Through the Cracks
by Vathara
Summary: Two years ago, a group of refugees came through an uncertain Gate. Tonight, an Assassin attacks a Herald. Bad idea. The Heralds think they've got everything under control. It's possible this is a worse idea. But how dangerous can one little redhead be? (Kerowyn's going to hit something, she just knows it...)
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Nope, I have nothing to do with Rurouni Kenshin, concepts borrowed from Inuyasha, or Mercedes Lackey's wonderful world of Velgarth. Only the plot bunny is mine.

* * *

: _Kenshin!_ NOOO!:

Startled out of a blessedly sound sleep wrapped around Eldan, Kerowyn hit the floor with sword in hand. Her lover was already scrabbling for his own boots, clothes, and weapons - not necessarily in that order. Mindspeech might not carry the full emotional charge of Empathy, but there was no mistaking a Herald in pure, desperate terror.

: _"Kaoru-dono!"_ : A young man's voice; a flash of red cloth and flame-bright hair, carried on Kaoru's fear. : _"Hold on! You've got to hold on, that you do!"_ :

Projected terror was easing, wearing away with every gulp of air. : _I've got to hold on... that I do..._ :

"Kaoru Kamiya," Eldan identified the young woman's voice, tossing a stray boot Kerowyn's way. "You remember, the girl with that odd island style."

Right; the young Mindspeaker who worked with the Haven City Guard. Good swordswoman, if unseasoned, with a defensive style that suited her well taking down the Yamato idiots she ended up dealing with. "Who's he? A lover?"

Eldan gave her a quick grin. "Not that I know of. But that accent-"

Straight from Yamato, no question. Though it didn't sound quite like Kyotoko _or_ Edoko. Yanking on the bare minimum necessary to ride, Kerowyn headed out the door. : _Sayvel? What's going on?_ : No point in asking the girl herself, not when she was so rattled she was projecting to half the Heraldic Mindspeakers in Haven. There was a feeling of constriction in Kaoru's Mindspeech, as if the young woman were still fighting for air. : _Someone tried to strangle her?_ :

: _Not exactly,_ : her Companion said grimly. : _Hang on, I'm still trying to get some sense out of Megumi. Bastard had her Mindspeech locked down along with Kaoru's, she couldn't call for help-_ :

Kero broke into a run, hearing Eldan match her pace a few steps behind. "Someone blocked a _Companion?_ "

: _Seems they've had some trouble here while we were with the Skybolts._ :

Kerowyn threw open a door to looming whiteness, cinching down the simple saddle Sayvel had coerced some stable groom into tossing on her. She could catch the edge of other Heralds reporting in, the problem - whatever it was - would probably be handled before she could get there, and yet... something just didn't feel right. "And everyone just _forgot_ to mention this when we got in this afternoon?"

"The Yamato aren't a military problem," Eldan pointed out, eyes losing focus as he checked in with Guards heading toward the disturbance.

"Yet," the former mercenary and still Captain of the Skybolts said darkly. Whether or not they were a military problem, any large group of new immigrants in Valdemar could quickly _become_ a military problem. Especially given they'd apparently been suicidal enough to risk the insane mix of magic and Mind-Magic that had flung them all here in the first place.

 _And blood-magic at that._ Kerowyn's eyes narrowed. _I can see why desperate people might turn to it - the major magics are still unsettled after the Storms, the Tayledras say it'll be a century before someone can build a stable Gate, and Lord Yamagata swears their two clans were facing extinction down to the last child... but I. Don't. Like it._

: _You don't like not having the chance to interrogate one of their blood-path mages before they died,_ : Sayvel said dryly.

: _That, too,_ : Kerowyn checked the girth. : _All their so-called_ hitokiri _dead in the Jump. Convenient, don't you think?_ :

: _Very._ : Sayvel snorted.

The ghost of odd smoothness touched Kero's thoughts, as if the backs of curved nails stroked her cheek. Another flash of warm arms, seeping in confidence and reassurance like warm rain. : _"You'll be all right now, that you will."_ :

: _Yes. I'm all right now, that I am._ : Relief washed through Kaoru's projection, with a dawning hint of something else. : _Kenshin..._ :

: _"Oro?"_ :

Sayvel snickered.

"Oh, Havens," Kerowyn groaned, pulling herself into the saddle. "Puppy love. That's all we need."

Sayvel's sardonic reply was lost in a thrill of fear. The clear image of a madman's green eyes, blue-gray hair floating in the wind. A black-clad right arm dangling limp and shattered, useless... but in the left hand, a gleam of deadly steel.

Violet eyes never looked away from Kaoru's, though the young man's hand moved to his odd sword on the grass. : _"Stop it, Jin-e! A wakizashi and only your left arm - you've no chance, that you don't! I suggest you let the Guard take you peacefully, that I do."_ :

: _"No."_ : The madman's voice was oddly triumphant. : _"I haven't lost yet. There's still one thing left - that I must do!"_ :

And the image cut off, as Kaoru hid her gaze against Kenshin's shoulder. But not before Kerowyn saw the gleam of steel, the bright spurt of heart's blood.

Eldan whistled.

"Saves us the trouble," Kerowyn said flatly. "Blessed Agnira, this is going to be a _mess-_ "

Light bloomed on the horizon.

Eldan stepped back. "Was that-"

"Final Strike. Gods!" : _Elspeth!_ : Never mind that Elspeth and Darkwind were supposed to be heading out tomorrow for Hardorn on yet another diplomatic mission. They needed Adepts, _now_.

: _We're on it, Kero._ : The Herald-Mage's mind-voice was breathless as she rallied her fellow mages to handle what was no longer a mere Guard matter. : _We're lucky - I think most of it got turned in on itself somehow._ :

"I don't believe in luck," Kerowyn swore. : _Kaoru. Herald Kamiya!_ :

: _Weaponsmaster?_ :Fear pulsed, steadied into practiced calm. : _I'm all right. It - didn't touch me._ :

Kero arched a skeptical brow. You couldn't lie mind to mind, but what people _didn't_ say could paint greater deception than a ton of lies. : _And Kenshin?_ :

: _He needs a Healer- Oh! Sanosuke!_ :

: _Sanosuke's taking Kenshin to Healer Ogumi Gensai's clinic,_ : Sayvel relayed. : _Kenshin knows him; that should let Sanosuke keep the man there until we can talk to him. Megumi says Kaoru's all right, just shaken; she'll stay and report to Elspeth. But Kenshin took most of the blast._ He _says he's fine, but Sano doesn't believe him._ :

"Sanosuke?" Kerowyn cast a look askance as Eldan grimaced.

"Friend of Megumi's. One of the odder Companions we've got on the Field," her fellow Herald informed her. "Long story."

"Over breakfast."

Eldan smiled. "Done." His smile slipped. "A mage that suicides rather than be captured. We still don't understand these people. I just wish-"

"We do _not_ need one of those sword-swinging idiots to get Chosen, Eldan." Picking up the reins, Kerowyn started for the chaos somewhere in Haven. Reports were placing the battle... ah. There. _Huh. Old shrine. Why there?_

: _Apparently, Jin-e wanted a duel,_ : Sayvel reported. : _Kaoru was just bait._ :

Bait. A _Herald_ for bait? Gods. Kyotoko, Edoko, Yamato - Yamagata's people were crazy.

"Kerowyn, they're just people," Eldan broke into a jog as she headed for the Collegium gates. "Everyone deserves a chance."

"Eldan, 'may you get exactly what you deserve' is a curse where I come from." Kerowyn shook her head. "Be careful what you wish for."

* * *

 _"Itai. Itai._ Itai! _"_

The white mouth only clamped down harder on the tail of fiery red hair. : _Yell all you want. I'm_ not _letting go._ :

"Sanosuke-"

: _You. Are. Seeing. A Healer!_ :

"Sessha doesn't need a Healer," Himura Kenshin muttered, making his impeded way to Gensai-isha's examining table.

"Why don't you let me be the judge of that, young man." The gray-haired Healer smiled professionally, pulling back Himura's bloodied red gi. "This would be easier if you took your teeth off him, Companion-"

: _Sanosuke,_ : the white creature in the shape of a horse filled in. : _And he Fetches. If I let go, he'd be_ gone.:

"Fetching, hmm?" Gensai Ogumi didn't turn a hair as he started cleaning the wound in Kenshin's shoulder. "I should have guessed. And you must be quite good at it; Ayame and Suzume said you had that little cat out of the gutter in an instant yesterday, and Kaoru says living things are the hardest to move..." Brown eyes softened at his patient's silence. "It's all right, Himura. This is Valdemar, not Edo. No one fears the Gifted here. Although I think you should let young Kaoru introduce you to some Heralds-"

"Gensai-sensei." Kenshin shook his head, mindful of the large teeth gripping the ends of his hair. "Sessha doesn't want to be noticed, that I do not."

: _A little late for that,_ : Sanosuke put in.

"Sessha's heard you're not supposed to be talking to strangers," Kenshin muttered.

: _Huh. I'll BeSpeak who I want. Check him carefully, Healer. This idiot was ground zero at a damn blood-path mage's Final Strike._ :

"My word!" Gensai dropped his sponge. "Are you sure?"

: _Megumi Felt him take it protecting Kaoru. I can't Feel any damage - but with shields like his, I'm not sure I would._ :

"Shields?" The elderly Healer frowned. Let his eyes lose focus, studying his patient.

 _There's nothing to see._ Keeping his ken-ki as low as he could, Kenshin projected innocence, weariness, the simple aura of a weary swordsman with one unexpected Gift of mind. _I'm only a wanderer. Nothing to be afraid of... nothing to look twice at..._

"Hmm. Simple stab, that's good... bled a bit, though, didn't it? Hold onto the table, now. This will sting."

Kenshin hid a sigh of relief in his gasp. It did sting.

 _It'll do worse than sting if they know who -_ what _\- you are_ , the part of him that was Battousai reminded him sharply. _Kaoru heard, but even if her father was Edoko, she grew up here, in Valdemar. She doesn't really_ know.

 _I know_ , Kenshin thought regretfully, tamping the last of Jin-e's death energies away from casual Sight. _And once she does... she is a Herald. Sessha will not give her the grief of causing my death._

"Within every fiber of your being, you are in truth a hitokiri," Jin-e had whispered, life slipping away with his blood. Magic building with every faltering breath, every drop of crimson onto sword-torn ground. "Another hitokiri tells you this... it cannot be a lie..."

 _No,_ Kenshin had wanted to shout, feeling Kaoru's tears soaking his shoulder. She wasn't looking. She couldn't See. _No, don't_ do _this, don't-_

Blood streaked the mad grin. "Keep saying you're a wanderer. I'll take you both with me... into the depths of hell..."

And the fires broke free.

He'd pressed Kaoru against himself, parting the hell-flames with one swift blow of his blade.

 _It won't be enough. You_ know _it won't be enough-_

And violet eyes blazed amber once more, as Hitokiri Battousai tore the death-energies away.

 _It's done_ , Kenshin told himself bluntly now, head low so his red bangs would hide any stray gleam of amber in his gaze. Curling the tips of his fingers in and under, as had become his habit these past two years; Gensai-isha didn't mind, surely, but the local gaijin tended to have... irrational reactions to hanyou. Almost as bad as their response to hitokiri. _You can't return the energies to the earth now, Gensai would notice. And if he didn't - I don't know exactly what Companions are, but they live and breathe magic. Sanosuke couldn't miss it._

Not to mention that every reflex his _shishou_ had hammered into his head through years of training cringed at the very thought of relinquishing one spark of magic under these conditions. He was alone. Wounded. With no backup, and an unknown number of hostiles likely to soon be closing on his position...

 _Heralds. Heralds who know magic. One of them must have ki-sense. Focus, you_ baka!

One breath. Another. Kenshin pictured the movements of a slow kata, finding the stillness that was his lifeline. _Center. Ground. Store the energy. Don't let it rule you._

With a mental _crack_ like a stiff neck easing, the blood-magic flowed into its proper place.

 _Che', I'm out of practice._ Kenshin winced at the slow glow of warmth from within, as empty reserves filled with the glittering strength of death. _Shishou would give me five hundred swings, then pound me through a few rocks for good measure._

He'd wanted to get out of practice. He hadn't wanted to touch death ever again...

"Well, nothing seems to be too wrong here." Gensai touched a hand to his shoulder just above the wound, feeling at the prominent collarbone under pale skin. "Tch. Weeks here and you still need feeding up. You really weren't eating well, were you?"

Kenshin gave him an abbreviated shrug. "Sessha had been wandering a while."

"And the local diet made just about everyone sick when we first Jumped here," Gensai said matter-of-factly. "Heavy meat, heavy breads, hardly a familiar green in sight. Not to mention this _cheese_ Valdemarans like so much. It looks like tofu, you'd think it'd stay down like tofu..."

Kenshin winced, thinking of that first farmstead meal after he'd found his way out of the mountains locals called Pelagirs. The aftermath had almost been enough to drive him back into the wilderness. "Aa."

A silver hoof stamped on polished wood. : _So can you help or not?_ :

"Patience," Gensai wagged a finger near sapphire eyes. "Any magical damage will have to wait until the Heralds get here. But I can help with the rest, if you'll let me." Brown eyes roamed the other faint scars on his patient's chest. "You're a swordsman. I assume you've seen a Healer before?"

"Hai," Kenshin admitted. "Just, not often." _Usually I Healed myself; there was more than enough energy on the battlefields._ But Kaoru had to report the circumstances of his wound, which meant the Heralds knew he _was_ wounded. For his shoulder to Heal without aid - it would raise questions. Too many questions.

 _And you might need that energy to run,_ Battousai pointed out coldly.

True. Too true.

"Just stay still, and try to relax." Gensai placed a palm against his forehead. "Calm your ki, and let me mend its tears..."

: _It's all right, you know._ : Sano's rough mind-voice had a wry, tolerant edge, casting an image of his own white knuckles on his sword's hilt at him. : _I'm between you and the clinic door. Nothing's coming in here without going through me first._ :

Kenshin blinked. "You would do that for sessha?"

: _You saved Kaoru._ : There was curiosity in that touch of mind, and wonder. : _Which means you saved Megumi. And they're both friends of mine. I owe you one._ :

And minds didn't lie. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to close his eyes. Just for a moment. Just for... a moment...

* * *

"So this... hitokiri Kurogasa, Jin-e Udo, laid a compulsion on you and Megumi, and carried you off down-river," Herald-Mage Elspeth stated.

Kaoru nodded, torn between duty, the desire to be anywhere but under the older woman's gaze, and the nagging need to _go find Kenshin_. Elspeth might claim to be "just another Herald", but she was a _Herald-Mage_. A creature out of legend. A woman who'd found and brought back other legends, who'd traveled all the way to the Shin'a'in Plains, gained the aid of the Hawkbrothers in stopping the Mage-Storms, and even made a treaty with the Grand Duke and now new King of Hardorn. And more important, one of Kerowyn's best students.

 _The Weaponsmaster's going to rake me over the coals for this, I just know it. Talia_ asked _me, I was trying... I didn't want to get the rest of the Heralds involved, not after Kenshin trusted me! He didn't have to help the Guards with Jin-e - he thought the hitokiri would come after_ him, _not me-_

 _No excuses. Just the facts._ "It happened so fast... Jin-e just _clamped down_ , and I couldn't MindHear or MindCall at all. I saw Megumi fall, and I couldn't help her." Kaoru suppressed a shiver. "It was like being wrapped in an iron blanket."

: _Kenshin pried me up off my side before he took off, or I'd have been one sorry horse,_ : Megumi said dryly, leaning against her Chosen so the warmth of white hide seeped through Kaoru's embroidered tunic. : _I know he's stronger than he looks, but some of that_ had _to be Fetching._ :

"Fetches and magic-resistant." Elspeth nodded slowly. "Interesting."

"Begging your pardon, Herald," Guard Chief Tostig nudged up his glasses as he walked into hearing range, "but Himura said what this bastard was using _wasn't_ all magic. Shin-something-"

"Shin no Ippou," Kaoru nodded. "One side of the soul." She gave Tostig a smile, relieved to see the man she usually worked with handling Yamato-related problems in Haven. His short dark hair was unruly, his blue uniform less than pressed neat, and he looked worn at the edges, but he was in one piece. _Gods, I wish I'd been there that night. But Tani doesn't trust Heralds, Sanosuke said he'd go with Kenshin, and..._

 _"Sessha has a suspicion, that I do,"_ Kenshin's voice echoed out of memory. _"If this one is correct - one who hears with the mind would be doubly vulnerable, Kaoru-dono. Sessha cannot Hear or Call, and Sanosuke lives as a mind alone. But you and Megumi, you are two woven together. Please. Stay here and wait for me."_

Kenshin's smile had never changed, still that quiet, rurouni smile that seemed to say anything while it hid everything. But there had been a shadow in his eyes.

A shadow that had clenched at her heart, when a bloodied Sanosuke came back to her dojo to say Kenshin wasn't coming back. A shadow that had driven her to the river where Kenshin was trying to lay a trap for Jin-e, only to find herself trapped instead.

 _He promised. He still has your ribbon. He_ promised _he'd bring it back!_

 _But... if Jin-e pushed him too far... if what he did makes him feel so guilty that he can't stay, that he has to go wandering again..._

 _Then I'll just have to track him down, thump him with my bokken, and tie him up until Megumi and I can make him see sense_ , Kaoru thought fiercely. _And the quickest way to do that is to get this mess straightened out._ "Some kind of coercive Gift," she finished. "Only so strong. I've never felt anything that strong."

"Last night, when we were protecting Lord Tani - Kurogasa just looked at us and we froze," Tostig went on, hand nearing the hilt of his sword at the memory. "We could see him coming, we knew he was going to cut us down - but we couldn't move."

"Sounds like a cold-drake," Elspeth muttered. "They use Mind-Magic, too."

Tostig shrugged. "You'd know more about that than me, Herald. All I know is, I and all my men were literally scared stiff. Even Companion Sanosuke could barely pick his feet up. But he was moving, so Kurogasa went after him... and that's when Himura jumped in." He whistled. "Bastard tried it on Himura, too. But Himura just yelled something-"

 _"Kiai,"_ Kaoru filled in. "It's not a spell, Chief. Just a way to focus your energies in a fight, Gifted or not. Of course, you don't want to do it if you're trying to be sneaky," she finished hesitantly. Her father's sword-fighting techniques hadn't gone over well with most of the Collegium's Weaponsmasters, and Elspeth was known for having an even shorter temper with anything not quick, clean, and efficient. Swords killed. That was all.

 _But Kamiya Kasshin Ryu's not meant to kill,_ Kaoru thought. _It's meant to focus your Gifts. To protect. We're Heralds. Isn't that what we're all about?_

"Anyway, Himura was sweating a little, but he was still moving," Tostig picked up the story. "That's when he said it wasn't magic. More like a battle of wills." He rubbed at the back of his head. "We tried, Herald Elspeth, but until Kurogasa let us go, there wasn't a one of us who could get loose besides the Companion. Think I'm starting to see why Lord Tani's so scared of the little guy."

"Lord Tani's frightened of this Himura?" Elspeth studied the Guard with Kerowyn's own critical eye.

"It might go back to Kyoto." Tostig shrugged. "When we were trying to set up the extra guards around him, Tani said something odd..."

"'Gaijin swordsmen and a no-name thug... do you think I need your help, I who lived through the forest of swords and rain of blood-fires of the Revolution?'" Kaoru quoted. "Sanosuke told Megumi," she added at Tostig's start. _Maybe I stayed behind, but there was no way I wasn't getting updates!_

"She's right," Tostig nodded. "And that's when Himura walked in. Funny way of talking, he has... right." He half-closed his eyes, drawing on the trained memory that let him quote circumstances of any crime he or his Guards had handled in court to the letter. "'Tani-dono's become a very big man. Quite different from the man who was under my _constant protection_ through the forest of swords and rain of blood-fires. It must be frustrating to have gaijin swordsmen and a no-name thug as guards. But perhaps you could endure it. Just for one night.'" Tostig grinned. "Tani folded like wet paper. Now, just between you, me, and the Companions, Herald, the man doesn't have much in the way of spine on his good days... but that's new."

"Really." Elspeth raked Kaoru with a frown. "Darkwind?"

"There should be more damage." The Hawkbrother Adept stepped through the battlefield like a whisper of wind, green and brown-patterned scout's outfit blending into the shadows before dawn. "If he was a blood-path mage, as the evidence indicates, the remnants of his power should be scattered over this ground." He looked up, ice-blue eyes troubled. "There are traces, but nothing near what there should be."

"That was a Final Strike," Elspeth said bluntly.

"It was." Darkwind shifted his shoulder, as if he missed the weight of the massive hawk that usually rode there. "But only the outermost edge of his magic was set loose. The rest is gone. As if..."

"Yes?" Elspeth drew out the word into obvious impatience.

Hand toying with one of the feather-tied thongs on his outfit, Darkwind started to speak.

Kaoru listened, but couldn't catch more than a word of what was obviously a long, technical mage-to-mage discussion. _Mou, I wish I spoke Tayledras!_ But her skills with Yamato had been more needed in the new western edge of Haven. Talking to people, listening to people, sorting out the major and minor clashes of culture and law between her father's people and their newly adopted home; she was the only Herald who had any clue how different Valdemar was from Yamato, and sometimes she felt like she had to be everywhere at once. There wasn't time to add a new language on top of everything else.

"Forgive me," Darkwind said, meeting Kaoru's gaze. "I was saying, there is a - flavor, to the traces of magic, that reminds me of what a very... sharp friend did once."

"Only Need used the magic then and there, she didn't take it away after she transmuted it," Elspeth started, giving her partner a look askance.

"Kaoru!" Yahiko thumped into her like a yellow-and-green shinai, ten-year-old hands fisting in her tunic before he remembered he was too grown-up to need an "older sister's" comfort. "I looked after Megumi like Kenshin's note said - she got up and ran off, and she didn't say anything! I had to find her by looking for the Guards-"

"Breathe," Kaoru said fondly. "Herald Elspeth, Darkwind k'Sheyna, this is my student, Myojin Yahiko." : _I know it's odd, but he didn't have anywhere else to go. His parents are dead, he's not quiet enough to fit in at a shrine, and given where Kenshin and I found him - he has to be somewhere safe. And I couldn't ask an ordinary Guard's family to take on the yakuza._ :

: _He was a criminal?_ : Darkwind's expression was studiously neutral.

: _A pickpocket,_ : Kaoru admitted. : _He's stopped._ :

: _That's all right, then._ : For the first time this night, Elspeth smiled. "Can I see this note, Yahiko?"

Wary, Yahiko held out the inked page.

"In Yamato," Elspeth grumbled. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Kenshin's handwriting is lousy anyway." Kaoru took the page and started reading. "Yahiko, Sanosuke..."

 _Kurogasa has used the Shin no Ippou to bind Megumi-dono within her own mind, and taken Kaoru-dono. As I suspected, the technique is even more effective on those with what those of Valdemar call "Mindspeaking" than on those with no Gifts at all. Please look after Megumi-dono. She is frightened and afraid, but she can hear you._

 _Do not try to break the trance. Kurogasa will sense it, and he will slay Kaoru-dono in a heartbeat._

 _Kaoru is alive. He will not kill her - not until he has satisfied himself with a duel. She will be safe until I meet him at the appointed time and place. The "stray hitokiri", Udo Jin-e, will keep his word. In this, at least._

 _If the hour past midnight has come and gone and Megumi-dono is still not free, please rescue Kaoru-dono with the help of Guard Chief Tostig._

 _Himura Kenshin_

Elspeth glanced at the inked characters. "He was ready to die, wasn't he?"

Kaoru bit her lip. "Kenshin didn't _want_ to fight. Jin-e forced him to."

 _"With you in my power, Battousai will be enraged,"_ a madman's voice echoed in her mind. _"Rage will turn him back into the hitokiri he used to be. The demon of Kyoto, the killer whose name froze the blood of men... uhu-hu-hu. It will be the_ best _killing."_

 _No. Not Kenshin. He's not_ like _you. He's not a killer!_

Unbidden, amber eyes glowed in her memory.

: _Gwena, tell your Chosen Himura had to pick the best of bad options,_ : Megumi said tiredly. : _Jin-e would have sensed any Guard within half a mile. And any Herald who could Mindspeak at all would have wound up just like we did, unless they could summon enough mental force to break the compulsion._ : She nosed Kaoru's shoulder. : _Good work._ :

Kaoru blushed. : _I had to, Megumi. He wanted peace so much-_ :

: _And you love seeing him move._ : Megumi sent her a private, giggly image of a Companion with kitsune-ears, snatched right out of a recent Yamato children's book. : _Can't blame you;_ I _want to know how he Fetches like that, too._ :

: _It's probably because youkai were mage-crafted,_ : Kaoru shrugged. : _Like gryphons._ :

: _Gryphons don't breed with humans, Chosen,_ :Megumi pointed out yet again, worrying at one fact that had bothered her ever since they'd found out hanyou weren't stories at all.

: _'Tousan said they were "born of magic". What else could they be?_ :

: _Nothing else I know of,_ : Megumi acknowledged. : _And I suppose if the Star-Eyed can make it so_ every _Hawkbrother is born with at least a little Mage-Gift, making their "children" compatible with humans wouldn't have been an insurmountable problem for Yamato gods..._ :

Kaoru shrugged. Let Megumi worry about the Healer-type details. They had more immediate problems. : _If Kenshin used his Gifts to kill..._ : She swallowed, mouth gone dry. : _The Circle would lock them down. Permanently. It would kill him!_ :

Comfort reached back to her. : _Just hold on, Chosen. And don't tell any Herald-Mages anything you don't have to. Sanosuke says he has an idea._ :

 _Don't_ tell the Herald-Mages? _Sanosuke_ had an idea? Kaoru fought the urge to beat her head against a handy tree trunk. _We're doomed._

Elspeth cleared her throat. "Like the Shin'a'in say, if it's stupid and it works... what I want to know is, what made your swordsman think he could take on a blood-path mage?"

"Jin-e wasn't fighting like a mage, he was fighting as an assassin," Kaoru objected. "A _hitokiri_ \- we'd say manslayer-"

"Right. That nasty little profession Yamagata and Shimazu don't like to talk about. Use your eyes, Kamiya." The Herald-Mage swept a hand across, indicating seared ground. "This was a blood-path mage, Yamato-style."

Kaoru paled. "What?"

A long, low whistle spared her whirling mind the battle of mustering a coherent reply. "Hell _fires_ , someone held a dance and forgot to invite me!"

"Kero." Elspeth waved at the approaching Weaponsmaster. "We left the body so you could take a look."

Kaoru swallowed, carefully not glancing that way. The lingering scent of blood was more than enough.

"Huh. Took himself out, that's for sure." An odd crackling sound carried to Kaoru's ears. "Nice. Shattered the elbow, tore the ligaments... even with a half-dozen Healers, I'd lay even odds he'd never have held a sword again. Not a sword-blow, though..."

"Double battou-jutsu," Kaoru stated, trying to quiet a queasy stomach as her imagination painted a vivid picture of Kerowyn handling the body.

"Battou-jutsu?" She could hear the frown as Kerowyn tried to place the word. "From what I recall, your father's style didn't have anything by that name."

"Because it's a one strike kill. Miss, and you're dead." Kaoru sent the Captain the clear image of Kenshin in that unmistakable sideways stance, sheath pressed up against his left arm, right hand hovering over the hilt. Utter stillness, no warning-

A blur of motion and fury-

Steel slicing out, sped by pressing against the sheath, too fast to see.

"Good _gods_."

"Kenshin knew he'd dodge the sword," Kaoru shrugged. "Jin-e didn't count on the sheath."

"And your folk use those odd iron sheaths," Kero observed. " _Saya_ , hmm? Nasty. Let's see." Boots and hooves swished through grass, Sayvel circling in her Chosen's wake. "Looks like Jin-e brought you in this way... damn, he was good, wasn't he? Barely a trace on the ground."

"Until that point," Darkwind angled a nod toward torn and seared grass.

"And all hell breaks loose." Kerowyn was silent for the next several minutes, stepping carefully through the fire-blackened clearing. "All right. Where's this Himura now?"

* * *

Kerowyn unlaced her boots and left them at the clinic steps, eyeing the fresh scuff-marks even the most careful Companion would leave on wood. Other marks marred steps farther down the veranda, where the long building went from being Healer Gensai's clinic to the late Koshijirou Kamiya's salle; _dojo_ , as Yamato called it. "Been looking after the place, hmm?"

"We manage," Kaoru smiled brightly, keeping a good grip on Yahiko, who seemed torn between running ahead of them and wanting to pry at every last detail of Sayvel's tack. "Healers need room to work sometimes, too. And Healer Gensai says it's... nice... living somewhere that reminds him of my father."

 _A man I truly would have liked to put under Truth Spell_ , Kero thought ungratefully. _Sixteen years in Valdemar without ever breathing a word that why he was_ really _here was to plant an anchor for a Jump in case things went wrong for your clans._

Which they had. Spectacularly, from everything she and other Heralds had put together. Not that they'd put together much; like Koshijirou, Yamato didn't talk to outsiders if they could help it. And those diplomats who would talk were all too familiar with shielding themselves from Mind-Magic.

 _Now that's something I never expected to find outside Valdemar_ , Kerowyn admitted to herself. _A whole people with a horde of little Gifts. Nothing strong enough to be Chosen-_

: _Or nothing we can find,_ : Sayvel grouched from the garden by the front gate. : _I swear, they must train their children to shield before they can talk!_ :

 _Wouldn't surprise me._ What they'd seen of the Yamato spoke of a culture in which honor and loyalty were valued above love, yet treachery and assassination were almost as common as in the Eastern Empire. Witness Koshijirou, who'd been an honorable and loyal Guard for Haven, raising a daughter with the strength and character to be Chosen - and who'd arranged for a mass, if peaceful, invasion of the land he'd sworn to protect.

Though to be fair, the two clans - not to mention the odd fragments of families and troops that ended up transported with them willy-nilly in that massive Jump two years ago - had apparently been aiming for Valdemar's untenanted western edge. They'd _meant_ to drop themselves in empty borderlands, not near smack in the middle of Haven.

They'd missed.

: _Oops,_ : Sayvel snickered. : _But there's something else bothering you._ :

: _Kaoru's hiding something._ : Kerowyn kept her suspicions off her face as she followed the young Mindspeaker inside. As usual, she tried not to think too much about what one Fire-Starter or a mage with a bad temper could do to all these paper walls. Though granted, it did tend to eliminate eavesdropping of the conventional kind.

: _Doesn't mean it's something bad, you know. Young love can make 'spies' out of the best of us._ :

: _That's what I'm worried about,_ : Kero said dryly. : _When we dragged the details out of Chief Tostig, didn't he call this Himura a "wanderer"?_ :

:Rurouni, _yes..._ :

: _So where did he wander_ from? _Maboroshi? Tostig would have noticed; hells, we'd have had half a dozen Guards leaping to tell us that!_ : Selenay herself had been struck dumb when Yamagata had petitioned to settle his clans on the edge of Valdemar's western border. The very idea that people would _want_ to live in the magical morass Tayledras called Uncleansed Lands... brrr. Anyone coming out of Maboroshi was regarded as odd, brave, and quite possibly as crazy as a Shin'a'in. : _And if not Maboroshi - any Yamato coming to this part of the world would have had to get off those islands, across the Salten Sea, and Chi'in, and the Eastern Empire, and all the little kingdoms between. In one piece. There shouldn't be Yamato anywhere but here!_ :

Unease filtered back from her Companion. : _That... is not a pleasant thought._ :

No. Not at all.

"Kenshin! Are you okay?" Yahiko half-wriggled out of his gi, trying to squirm loose from Kaoru's grip. " _Busu_ , let me go-"

: _Don't startle him, kid._ : Sanosuke's mind-voice was rough as any back-alley tough's, even if it was kind. : _He's had a bad night._ :

 _Big_ , Kerowyn realized, almost walking into the wall of white hide blocking the doorway. _Very big._ Sanosuke wasn't any taller than, say, Sayvel, but where she had graceful dancer's curves, the scarred Companion had a blacksmith's muscle. _Blocky head, deep hindquarters and chest... reminds me of Alberich's Kantor. Wonder if they're related?_

A flash of red caught her eye, and the odd speculation was lost. "Healer, you've got a-"

No. Not a fire. Just a flow of blazing red hair, tied back with a leather thong as its small owner nodded in sleep.

 _Red hair._ Kerowyn pried her jaw off the floor. _But... Yamato all have dark hair!_

Unmistakably red, she saw, stepping inside as Sanosuke moved back. Habit made her take a quick look around; from the tables of various heights, the horse-farrier equipment, and the rough-barked piece of firewood left on a counter for cats to savage, this was Healer Gensai's beast-treatment room.

 _Good call._

Even in Haven, people had livestock to take care of, and a room like this was far easier for a Companion to get treatment in than a stable. Not to mention safer for a _Herald_ to get treatment in, when all that might be holding him out of shock was the grip of his Companion's mind.

 _Hate to think what it's like trying to get hoof-prints out of this floor, though._

The gray-haired man in the Edoko variant of Healer Greens didn't seem worried about it, holding up a cautionary hand. "You left the mages outside?"

"They're not happy about it," Kerowyn said dryly. "Neither am I." She cast a measuring look at Kaoru. "But our resident expert says mages and half-awake samurai are a bad mix."

"Is _that_ all she said?" Yahiko's grumble floated in from the hall. " _K'so._ Heralds-"

: _Watch your language, kid._ : Sanosuke stomped a hoof, eyes narrowed. : _You want to stay? Be quiet._ :

"All right, all right. Pushy."

: _Pushy, hell. Ayame and Suzume are just down the hall. You want to scare them awake? They_ listen _to you, kid. Think about that before you start turning the air blue._ :

"Mages' ki is rather unmistakable, yes," Gensai replied, ignoring the brewing brawl between kid and Companion with a long-suffering air. "And for centuries the only reason mages have come to Yamato is conquest. It's hard to override generations of training." He sighed. "He can sense you, Herald, and he has a very strong will. I can't hold him under long."

"And you haven't let him wake up because?" Kero prompted.

"There's a few things you should know," Gensai said matter-of-factly. "And he is skilled at battou-jutsu. I want to be sure he's awake before you're in range."

"Battou-jutsu?" Kero arched a blonde brow Kamiya's way. "So you've seen him spar?"

"No," Gensai said, after an almost-imperceptible hesitation. "I've simply been around quite a few swordsmen in my time, Captain. You all have a good sense of balance, but those who've mastered sword-drawing have... well, an extra edge."

"So to speak." Kerowyn took a second look at the small young man sleeping against the wall.

 _It's not just the red hair. He's_ not _Yamato. Not entirely._

Oh, the clothes were right; a dark red long-sleeved sort-of tunic the Yamato called a _gi_ , an off-white set of the loose riding pants called _hakama_. Even more than the clothes, the set of his body said Yamato; Kerowyn had seen enough kingdoms to get a feel for how their citizens' movements differed, and that graceful stiffness had never been born in Valdemar. But the shape of Himura's face was different from other samurai she'd seen, wide-eyed and sharp-chinned. She could swear she even saw a hint of freckle on that pale skin.

 _Huh. No wonder Kaoru fell hard. He's caught between, just like she is._

Foreign. Seemingly fragile. And yet...

 _Dead asleep, sitting up. He barely looks eighteen, but - we've got an old campaigner here._

With that, a host of other details fell into place. The sheathed sword resting against his shoulder, ready to draw or strike with the hilt if an enemy got that close. Worn and patched clothes that were still of good Yamato silk, tough and long-lasting as fine leathers. A frame as lithe and limber as any Sunhawk skirmisher, fisted hands leading to arms muscled in a manner that told her this man _breathed_ swordwork.

And a cross-shaped scar on his left cheek, blatant testimony that Jin-e was far from the first man to try to kill him.

"Skilled as in deadly," Kerowyn said bluntly, putting a hand on Kaoru's shoulder when the girl made an abortive move toward Himura. "Consider me warned. What else?"

"He hasn't had an easy time, these past two years. I had to clean out a lot of his channels. Some of them are still ragged; he'll probably be skittish until they heal-" Gensai started. "Damn!"

* * *

 _Mages. Danger. Protect-_

"Kenshin!"

Warmth. Small hands, callused like his own, holding back his hand on the blade. He could force them back, break her grip.

 _No. Not Kaoru. I won't hurt Kaoru._

"I didn't know his range was that great." Gensai's voice, breathless. "K'so - did we _ask_ you to come in here?"

"We could have waited for the explosions." An unfamiliar Valdemaran woman's voice, tainted with anger. "There's blood-magic in here, Kero. I can feel it."

Kenshin struggled to open his eyes, fighting the reflex to leap and strike. There was the problem; an over-enthusiastic healing sleep, pressing on his mind and body. _Gensai wanted me out. I_ trusted _him!_

: _Back. Off._ : Sanosuke growled, a sound Kenshin had never expected to hear from something that looked so much like a horse. : _You think I'd let an assassin like that Jin-e anywhere near Megumi without stomping him? Put that energy_ down. _Now!_ :

"I believe he is serious, _ke'chara_."

Kenshin fought free of the trance in time to place a face with the voice; one of the odd folk Valdemarans called _Hawkbrothers_. White hair patterned with dyes into a semblance of falcon feathers, eyes bleached blue, an absence of obvious weapons besides the dagger at his belt... one of their mages, then. Which meant the man's relatively young face could be deceptive.

 _Or not_ , Battousai murmured quietly, taking in the thick white streaks magic had left in the dark hair of the Herald-Mage in fancy Whites vibrating beside him. _She can't be older than I am, and they're a definite pair._

Holding sleepy innocence on his face, Kenshin looked past them toward the calmest ki in the room. Blonde hair just starting to gain streaks of gray, caught back in a white cloth headband. Cool aquamarine eyes above what looked like a modified set of Herald-Trainee Grays, watching him with pure, calm curiosity. Sword-worn hands rested on her hips a measured distance from her sword's hilt, far enough to not be an immediate threat, close enough to make it clear she did consider him a worthy opponent. _A warrior, born and bred as any samurai._

"Herald-Captain Kerowyn," she inclined her head. "Darkwind k'Sheyna, Herald-Mage Elspeth. Stand down, people. I think I know what the problem is." The calm glance moved to his side. "Kaoru. What's the proper way to ask for a look at that?"

 _Kaoru?_ Kenshin stifled the urge to jump. How had he not noticed she was right there?

 _You noticed. How could you not notice a ki so bright, so fierce?_ She'd just fit there, so perfectly, warm hands molded to his own. As if-

 _No. No, I will not allow that to happen. Not twice._

"Anou... well..." Kaoru squared her shoulders, bright face set and formal. "Rurouni, may we examine your blade?"

"As you wish, Captain." Kenshin kept his gaze quiet, naive. And most of all, away from Kaoru's. "Though sessha does not know what you believe you might find..."

His sakabatou sang from its sheath, and the captain regarded the reverse blade in her hands with wide eyes. "That," Kerowyn said bluntly, "is one of the oddest things I've _ever_ seen." She shrugged toward the mages. "Is this what you're sensing?"

The Hawkbrother blinked at the blade, obviously doubting the sanity of any swordsman who would carry such a creation. "I think it is." He extended a finger near the temper line, not quite touching steel. "A reversed blade. A blade meant _not_ to kill. Facing blood-magic, that would be a very primal magic in and of itself."

"Just the thing for parrying the first strike of a spell," Elspeth said thoughtfully. "Throw _that_ off, and unless he was at least Master-class, the rest can't find a target."

"And it did not," Darkwind noted. "Though I would have thought..."

"First impressions aren't always right," Elspeth shrugged. "If he _was_ just a Journeyman, using the power to boost his Mind-Magic - well, you saw the grass out there. The energy must have just burned up as heat." She smiled wryly. "You're not as dumb as you look."

"Oro?" Kenshin gave her a wide, clueless, violet blink.

"I think," the mage said under her breath.

"And just what's _that_ supposed to mean?" Kaoru blazed.

"Kaoru-dono, it's all right." He shouldn't touch her, he shouldn't - but he could sense her ki boiling with anger. She was a Herald; she'd have to live with these people after he had wandered free of Haven. _Just a touch. That's all._ Just a brush of fingers over the shoulder of her tunic... oh kami, her hair felt like spun silk over his skin. "Elspeth-dono is a very important person, and sessha is just a rurouni." He smiled. "Sessha's only glad they know there is no problem, that I am. Sessha will be going now-"

"No! You can't!" Her hands caught his, squeezing painfully. "You promised!"

"Oh, right. Your ribbon." Kenshin patted at the shoulder of his gi, missing the soft weight against his skin. Where had Gensai put it?

"A casualty of the night, I'm afraid." Gensai plucked a dripping bit of indigo from the sink. Even dark with water, the bloodstains were clear. "I'll do what I can, but no promises."

"That was my favorite ribbon, Kenshin!" Blue eyes narrowed with irritation, leftovers from all the horror of the night. "I could strangle you!"

Kenshin laughed nervously. "Could we not speak of strangling?" Kaoru's face swam in his mind, pale as she fought the compulsion that paralyzed her lungs.

But she was fine now. He'd see that, if only he raised his head. And he wanted to, so badly.

 _No! Don't look!_

"Kenshin, you jerk..." Annoyance faded into bewilderment. "Why won't you look at me?"

 _Must. Disentangle. Hands._ She meant well, he knew, hiding what might betray him with her own flesh, but her care itself could draw gaijin eyes. And that might be disaster. "It will soon be dawn. Sessha would like to get some sleep before breakfast, that I would." A quick burst of speed would do it, but he did not want to interest these mages any more than he already had.

"Honestly, Kenshin! I'm just asking you to-" Ducking as he tried to sidle away, blue eyes pinned violet.

 _Oh. No._

He didn't move. He didn't dare _breathe_.

Kaoru surged into his arms like a tsunami, warm and welcome and _home_.

 _Oh, hells_ , Battousai groaned, in that last lucid instant before the link of ki to ki wove itself from finest gossamer to a sword's steel. _Should've run - shouldn't have let Sano get close enough to stop me - shouldn't have let Gensai_ near _my ki, curse it, he cleaned out_ all _my channels-_

Including those delicate rivulets _every_ ronin and rurouni held blocked, so they would not injure a clan's honor by binding where they were not wanted. As Kaoru apparently _did_ want him, ki held out like an open hand - as it should not be, gods, never for him-

 _The old man set me up-!_

He tried to hold onto the anger - but it slipped away, lost in the press of a warm body against him, the tickling drift of blue-black hairs over his skin. Kenshin breathed in her scent, knowing it was useless to avoid it now. Knowing he should have left weeks ago, even days ago; left while this was still just a dojo, and not a place and family his heart longed to care for.

But he had stayed, and now blood and caring and battle-jangled youkai instinct had made the decision for him.

 _My territory. My pack. My Kaoru._

 _I am_ so _dead..._

* * *

Violet. The world was nothing but violet.

Warm as spring flowers. Restful as summer twilight, folding about her after a long day's work. Playful as the colored lanterns her father's people hung at the moon festival, shot with bits of amber like the fireworks that were danger and joy in one...

 _Kenshin._

Kaoru drew in a breath of herbs and the hint of steel, feeling as if someone had hit her over the head with a bale full of feathers. It didn't hurt, but something felt - different.

: _Well, let's see,_ : Megumi pointed out, amused. : _You're wrapped up in a nice pair of warm arms; about time, what are you, a virgin Spider-priestess? Mmm, those red bangs tickling your neck really are as soft as they look, aren't they. And Kenshin's... swearing?_ :

Almost too low to hear, with more numb resignation than real anger. Kaoru didn't know all the words, but the tone was unmistakable. "Kenshin? What's wrong?"

"Nothing, Kaoru-dono." It wasn't quite a sigh. "Don't worry. Sessha's not leaving."

He wasn't? But she'd seen - she'd thought - oh, never mind. "Good!" Kaoru stepped back, already missing the warmth of silk over her tunic. "Because if you did, I'd have to hunt you down, tie you up, and _drag_ you back here!"

"Good for you, Kamiya." Kero's smile glimmered with mischief. "You'll make a Shin'a'in barbarian yet." She cast a significant glance at the mages. "Unless you can think of something else, you two had better get some sleep. Diplomatic missions shouldn't start late. Gives people the wrong ideas."

"One moment more." Darkwind stalked gracefully toward Kenshin. "I need to examine your scar."

Kenshin tensed. Nodded slowly. "Aa. Sessha expected that, that I did."

Kaoru moved closer as the Hawkbrother touched impersonal fingers to the long slash along Kenshin's cheek. _Damn, damn... didn't anybody_ listen _when I told them about Yamato? You never touch a samurai's face! Never!_ "Why?"

"It was made by a great hate," Kenshin said quietly. "Many years ago."

"A death curse," Darkwind stated bluntly. "Elspeth says Yamato has no healing mages. I'm surprised it didn't bleed you to death." Tanned fingers traced the smaller, crossing cut. "Though I would have thought your priests could come up with something a little more efficient to break it."

"She... was not a _miko_." Violet eyes were distant, fathomless. Kaoru fought a sudden urge to cry. "Only an honorable woman who-"

 _Love. Betrayal. Grief._

"-knew she was dying," Kenshin finished.

 _What was that?_ Kaoru thought, oddly chilled. _It wasn't me!_

: _Kenshin,_ : Megumi said privately. : _He is tired. And he - trusts you. So he's leaking a little._ :

Kaoru felt her heart lurch, even as she wondered why Megumi had hesitated over her choice of thoughts. : _He's an Empath?_ :

: _Sanosuke thinks so._ :

"She used blood-magic?" Elspeth's eyes narrowed. "So that's why you smell of it."

"Elspeth-dono." Kenshin's voice was level. Calm. But violet eyes had taken on the same blue sheen Kaoru had seen when he faced the yakuza; hot and dangerous as mine-gas flame. "It was many years ago. Nothing to speak of now, in these peaceful times."

: _He's warning you off, Elspeth,_ : Kaoru said privately. : _He's trying to be polite about it. He knows you're_ gaijin _. He's assuming you don't know how deeply you just insulted that woman. But if this were Yamato and you were a samurai, he'd have cut you down by now. From the sound of it, she died an honorable death, and used that death to make sure he would live to carry out_ his _duty. For a samurai, that ranks her up there with King Sendar and every Herald who's thrown himself between Valdemar and doom._ :

: _Do all Yamato kill first and ask questions later?_ : Elspeth said dryly. : _Your stray may not be the sharpest knife in the armory, Kaoru, but I doubt he's dumb enough to attack an Adept._ : "You should let Darkwind work on that. Tayledras have a knack for Healing dark magic."

Kenshin slipped out from under the Hawkbrother's hand, stance relaxed and ready. "Do not trouble yourself, k'Sheyna-sama." He smiled, the fierce blue gone as if it had never been. "Sessha has carried this mark many years. It is... honorable... to recall a brave lady's sacrifice, that it is."

"Honorable." Darkwind looked as if he could think of far less flattering terms.

"Remember what your distant cousins say, Tayledras. _You can kill a man with a handful of maggots, if you must_." Kerowyn made shooing motions. "Out, out. It's a long ride to Hardorn, and Tremane won't like it if he has to deal with grumpy ambassadors." A quick grab, and she had Yahiko by the hair. "That goes for you too, Myojin. I know your teacher. I guarantee she's not going to go any easier on you tomorrow just because you spent last night chasing assassins."

Yahiko batted at her hand, stopped at a measured aquamarine glance. "Che'..."

: _Tell me if Kenshin gets out of hand, Kaoru,_ : Elspeth sent her with flavors of a private grin as she matched her partner's gait out the door. : _Oh... and you might want to see Talia. It_ was _a tough night._ :

Kerowyn waited until the chime of Gwena's hoof-beats faded down the street, then turned a level gaze on Herald, Healer, Companion, and swordsman alike. "All right," she said flatly. "Himura. Why don't you drop the innocent act and give me the real story?"

* * *

 _-dono_ \- a very high honorific.

 _-san_ \- a less formal honorific, along the lines of Mr. or Ms.

 _-sensei_ \- can be used as "Professor" or "Doctor".

 _-isha_ \- Healer.

 _Kyotoko, Edoko_ \- "Citizen of Kyoto", "citizen of Edo". Historically Edoko (or Edokko, depending on your source) were considered a "breed apart", much as Americans often think of New Yorkers.

 _Hitokiri_ \- "manslayer".

 _Itai_ \- "Ow".

 _Sessha_ \- "this unworthy one".

 _Ken-ki_ \- "sword-spirit", the focussed energy of a swordsman.

 _Ki_ \- energy, spirit.

 _Gaijin_ \- foreigner.

 _Hanyou_ \- "half-demon".

 _Shishou_ \- "master", traditionally in very old sword-styles.

 _Maboroshi_ \- illusion, chimera. In this case, the name of the new Yamatoko settlement in the Untamed Lands on the western edge of Valdemar, not far from Lake Evendim.

 _Baka_ \- idiot.

 _Kata_ \- patterned movements of a martial art.

 _Youkai_ \- "demon", supernatural creature.

 _Che'_ \- "Darn".

 _Aa_ \- informal yes.

 _Bokken_ \- wooden sword.

 _Busu_ \- ugly.

 _K'so_ \- "Damn."

 _Anou_ \- um.

 _Miko_ \- shrine maiden.

 _Yamato_ \- imagine these isles as off the eastern "edge of the map" in the Valdemar Companion.

 _Guard_ \- in Valdemar, they wear blue uniforms and are the local constabulary, especially in Haven; they also form a large part of the army.

 _Heraldic Circle_ \- regulates the use of Gifts in Valdemar, and may block those used by an unethical person.

 _Tayledras_ \- also, Hawkbrothers. Distant relatives of the Shin'a'in, they live in magical areas like the Pelagirs, working to make them safe for ordinary people.

 _Shin'a'in_ \- horse-riding nomads of the Dhorisha plains well south of Valdemar; Kerowyn has family in one of their clans.

A/N: Fair warning - it's still effectively 1878, the 11th year of Meiji, but Revolution history _will_ be bent to fit into Velgarth. Though there are some bits of real history that "could have gone" the way this AU's history did.

First point (and one of the main impetuses for this story): in 1876, there _was_ an abortive rebellion against the Meiji government that Saigo Takamori almost got involved in. He wrote that he would have joined them, except that they started their fight about a month too early. If they'd struck on the Emperor's birthday instead, Saigo felt that there would have been mass uprisings all over Japan and he would have launched himself and his followers into the fray. Given the personal charisma and resources the man could bring to bear, that would have made a significant difference.

Second point: in actual history, the leaders of that rebellion consulted an oracle before they went forward. Translate that to the world of Velgarth, where there are oracles who _can_ ForeSee the future, and they might well have waited until the Emperor's birthday.

Third point: As Raijuta pointed out in RK Volume 5, master swordsmen were known as magicians; "users of the whirlwind". So in Velgarth, they really are...


	2. Chapter 2

_Apparently, for Yamato, tea solves everything_ , Kerowyn thought, amused, sitting on a cushion as Kenshin poured her out a dark cup-full. _Well, I could use the wake-up._

If she reached out with her mind, she could still catch the edge of Darkwind and Elspeth giggling over Kenshin's pole-axed look. : _I can't believe we thought he might be a blood-path mage,_ : Elspeth had told the Captain privately as the two mages left. : _Head over heels. We're not going to be able to get those two apart with a crowbar!_ : Another burst of laughter shook through her thoughts; more relief than humor. Elspeth might be as willing to take on a dozen enemies of Valdemar before breakfast as any Herald, but like anyone who'd survived the late unlamented Ancar, she was painfully glad not to be dealing with another mage powered by blood sacrifice.

: _Though I felt... it was as if he sensed the bond forming, and fought to prevent it. Has that ever happened before, Captain?_ : Darkwind had asked, half his mind already on what he'd need to do to get his still-sleeping bondbird ready for the trip. : _One almost bound, trying to avoid that fate?_ :

: _Ah..._ : Kero had frowned, thinking.

: _Tell them yes, and not to worry about it,_ : Sayvel had told her privately. : _Something tells me this is one of those "private matters" Yamato are so fond of, and Elspeth's already stepped on her tongue enough for one night._ :

: _I suppose a lifebond would be private..._ : Kerowyn thought reluctantly.

: _That's the problem, Chosen. Whatever Himura and Kaoru are caught up in, it's not a lifebond._ :

: _Not a- then what the hells is it?_ :

: _Don't know,_ : Sayvel admitted. : _It Felt like something empathic; seemed to jolt through Kaoru's wild Gift. But lifebonds happen fast. Usually at first sight. They may not be evident for a good long while - Talia and Dirk went years before he finally broke down and realized he needed her - but they're_ there. _Two auras blended together as one; kill one, the other's got a hole that can bleed it to death. This... whatever it is, it needed time to build. Like one of those red bridges Yamato put over rivers; at first it just looks like a set of wooden jackstraws, then the crew pulls together and you've suddenly got an arch that'll hold an army._ :

Kerowyn nodded. : _But definitely not a lifebond._ :

: _No._ : Sayvel's voice had turned wry. : _Believe me, I've seen plenty._ : She'd sighed. : _Would you tell them? It's true, as far as it goes - and we've got enough problems without them mixing in._ :

 _Do we ever_ , Kero thought now. One of which was the ex-Heir turned Herald-Mage, soon to be on her way to Hardorn, blithely convinced that because a man could love, he couldn't be a blood-mage. _Gods, to believe the world was that simple. When was I that young?_

: _I don't know. Eight?_ : Sayvel said dryly. : _It's not all Elspeth's fault, you know. Companions influence their Heralds, and Gwena's - well, Gwena. She has a very... straightforward... view of the world, sometimes._ :

Yes; Herald Dirk had mentioned that more than once. While all Companions had fairly firm ethics, a few tended to see things in very black-and-white terms. Good. Evil. And damn little middle ground in between. : _Influence us, hmm?_ :

She heard a faint, horsy snort from the dojo courtyard, where Sayvel was keeping a still-shaky Megumi company. : _I'm a snarly sort for a Companion. Ask anyone._ _And you spent more than a year fighting Need out of your head. You knew your family - or at least Tarma, Kethry, and Warrl - loved and approved of you just the way you were. You didn't have a traitor father who tried to kill your mother to make up for, or looks that reminded everyone of the bastard every time you turned around, or ferociously bad manners drilled into you by that Imperial spy Hulda that made you a "problem" for everyone to "solve". Being Chosen was_ not _the be-all and end-all of your world._ You _don't influence._ :

Kerowyn smiled wryly. : _Thanks. I think._ :

: _You're welcome,_ : Sayvel said, just as dryly.

Following Kaoru's lead, Kerowyn wrapped her hand around the bottom of the handle-less cup, feeling the warmth seep through pottery into her bones. _Very quiet people, sometimes._ Not that she minded the silence meant to accompany that first, thoughtful sip of tea. It gave her a chance to look around this gathering room between the dojo and clinic, meant for use by both families; one of the few places big enough for Sanosuke to kneel down comfortably. Which he was right now, on a straw mat decked with stray white hairs testifying it was usually Megumi's.

Clean and simple. Measured straw mats on the floor, padding polished wood against feet. Flower arrangement in a little niche to the side, a sprightly flow of green leaves and weeping blue flowers. A small green-glass lantern set on a lacquered stand between them, giving just enough light so everyone could see. And against one wall... Kerowyn had to hide the urge to drool. _Gods, Tarma would have loved this place!_

Books. A whole _case_ of them, most spines marked with the black ink-slashes of Yamato signs, some of the newer ones clearly lettered in modified Valdemaran script. A substantial library by samurai standards... and for most kingdoms, a small ransom.

The Yamato hadn't landed in Valdemar empty-handed. Besides portable wealth of silver, gems, and horses, that quietly violent people had brought with them three jealously-guarded secrets. Silk-making. Sword-making. And book-making.

: _How do they do it?_ : Sayvel wondered, as she had at least once a week since the Yamato had all but dropped in on their heads. : _I know part of it has to do with them using paper instead of vellum or parchment, and I know they have inks we don't use - but how do they make books so_ fast? _No scribe can copy out work as fast as they do. Add in the art - it's just impossible!_ :

: _What's impossible is how alike all the copies look,_ : Kero pointed out. : _Scribes and artists just don't make every bit the same. Yet they do._ : She couldn't help turning the idea over yet again herself; one of the first things the Yamato had offered for sale were maps, copied and updated from all the information on Valdemar they could verify with the Bardic Circle. Very useful. And to a former mercenary, very frightening. The idea of enemies of Valdemar getting their hands on several detailed maps knotted her gut. : _If we could just figure out why the bookmakers and the woodcarvers work hand in glove, I think we'd be halfway there._ :

However they did it, Yamato _loved_ books. It was a matter of honor not to be a "brushless" person, as they put it. A samurai could dress in silks and swing a sword however he wanted, but if he couldn't read and write, he was no better than an unbonded mercenary.

 _And scruffy as he tries to look, Kenshin can write_ , Kerowyn thought coolly.

: _Another nail in his coffin,_ : Sayvel said darkly. : _Ronin and rurouni are wanderers because no clan wants them in their service. Which usually means they can't read. Or they've got a past nobody dares take on. You realize Kaoru's the only reason he's not running like hell?_ :

A flicker of smile bent Kero's lips. : _That, and he's smart enough to know we'd be on him in a heartbeat.:_ "Healer Gensai. How much do you know?"

"Enough to know I probably shouldn't be here while you discuss the situation." Gensai drained his cup and motioned to Yahiko. "Come along, young man. Let's not complicate matters."

The dark-eyed youngster twisted away, face like a thundercloud. "If Kenshin's in trouble, I'm staying!"

"What you don't know, they can't Truth Spell out of you," the elderly Healer pointed out. "As it is, what you do know could make things difficult for all of us. Though I doubt there's a Herald besides your teacher who knows enough to ask the right questions."

Kerowyn kept a twitch of pure, unadulterated curiosity off her face. _The right questions, hmm?_ It fit with what she'd seen from Yamagata; the man might not _lie,_ but he'd definitely avoid some topics unless someone asked him directly.

 _And when it comes to Himura, Gensai thinks he knows what the right questions are. Very interesting._

"He's right, Yahiko," Kaoru said firmly. "Weaponsmaster Kerowyn's one of the toughest, fairest Heralds I've ever met. If anyone can fix this-" She faltered, rallied. "It'll be all right. I promise."

: _And if it's not, I'll kick a few doors down,_ : Sanosuke put in. : _Come on, kid. Trust me._ :

Kerowyn listened to Yahiko grumble his way down the hall with Gensai with half an ear, attention focused on the quiet man kneeling in the shadows on the other side of the lantern. _Good spot. I have to work to read him. But I don't think he picked it on purpose; just found it by habit. Old campaigner, no question. He probably doesn't even think about things like that anymore._ "Annoying as Mindspeech can be, and it is annoying as _hells_ to have things come back and talk in your head, it can come in handy. Especially when you're trying to get a lot of information from a lot of different people in a very short time. For example, the time it takes to ride from a burned-out shrine to this dojo."

Kenshin didn't stiffen. He didn't even twitch.

 _But you know exactly where you've laid your sword down, don't you? To the hair._

"Kaoru," Kerowyn said neutrally. "Given what Chief Tostig told me, it's been a busy two weeks."

"Yes. Well-" Kaoru started.

"I know you had good reasons for not asking your fellow Heralds for help." Kerowyn kept her face expressionless. Not too hard; inwardly she was caught between raw annoyance at having this situation dumped in her lap, and reluctant glee that Kamiya had the independence and spirit to pull it off this long. _Need to have another talk with Selenay and Talia about expecting more than their Heralds can reasonably give. Mercenaries cross cultures all the time, but they_ know _what they're getting into, and most of their fellow swords are in the same damn boat. Elspeth deals with the Hawkbrothers, sure - but she's been either in a Vale trying to learn and fit in, or here in Valdemar trying to make sure we don't stomp too hard on our allies' toes. This young one's been walking the knife edge of two worlds, and she's got to have damn sore feet. She should have asked for help._

But the Monarch's Own had apparently seen something that had to be handled delicately, for the good of the kingdom, and there just weren't that many Heralds who had any clue about what set Yamato off. And Kerowyn knew herself how hard it was _not_ to give Talia what she asked for.

 _Admit it; if Kaoru were a merc, you'd be proud of her. She took a bad job and she did it with style. A born teacher. If she can just keep herself in one piece a few more years, she'll finally grow into that sword-style._

: _Just as well she is the only heir to this school, and that odd low-grade Empathy of hers makes it better for her to stay here in the dojo rather than the Collegium,_ : Sayvel put in. : _I still don't know why we can't get it shielded, but right now it's just as well we haven't. There's no way you could make this work if we didn't have a Herald in a spot to keep an eye on him._ :

: _Hush. I'm still working the kinks out._ : "However. I'm here now, the situation has drawn some _very_ public attention, and we're all going to have do some fast work to keep this from blowing up in our faces. So why don't I sum up what I know, and you three can fill in the gaps."

Kenshin inclined his head. "That would seem sensible."

 _Braced for impact. Can't blame you._ "According to Tostig, the first time he ran into you was when you were... ahem... dumping off about twenty thugs at his guard station with Kaoru's help." She gave Kaoru a measured glance. "I like to hear about it when someone tries to kill a Herald, Kamiya. But as I said, given the circumstances, I know why you _didn't_ mention it." _And why we're meeting in here, instead of your dojo. Didn't want me catching the repairs to your floor, hmm?_

: _I almost feel sorry for the poor bastards,_ : Sayvel snickered. : _Use that reputation to terrify the local Yamato, then have the_ real _one show up..._ :

: _Served them right._ : Though she was careful to keep that thought off her face. If Kenshin was who the evidence said he was, she did _not_ want the man to feel cornered. "The second time," Kerowyn went on, "was the aftermath of your little visit to the local yakuza." She narrowed her eyes at Kenshin. "Did you really visit five different houses before you found Kaoru and the boy at Tanishi's? How in the hells did you get out in one piece?"

"This one's not a Mindspeaker, to find others by the touch of thoughts alone," Kenshin shrugged. "And a certain politeness can go a long way."

Politeness backed up with a trail of unconscious bodies. Tostig reported the local Yamato thugs had been _very_ subdued for the next few days. "And third," Kerowyn said dryly, "was after you had your... duel... with Companion Sanosuke."

: _That was my fault._ : Sanosuke's mind-voice sounded sheepish as any young Herald-trainee caught doing something painfully stupid in the salle. : _One of Tostig's men - told me a rumor about Kenshin. So I challenged him._ : The white head ducked, the scar on his back rippling as he twitched uncomfortably. : _I was wrong._ :

"You were in pain, and grieving a loss," Kenshin said gently. "Had I fallen into hands as unfriendly as you found Yamato to be, and been treated the same, I too would have wished to wash away the memory."

: _He says, after kicking my tail over half the riverbank,_ : Sanosuke shot back.

"You've been in Yamato?" Kerowyn asked pointedly.

: _Yeah._ : The tightness in the Companion's voice said he did _not_ want to talk about it. : _Long story short, don't go near the Pelagirs on Search. You never know where you'll end up._ :

: _He went on Search and came back without his Chosen?_ : Kero asked Sayvel privately.

: _Sometimes we get false alarms. Like Eldan said, it's a long story,_ : her Companion replied. : _Short version - thirteen years ago Sanosuke went out on Search and_ disappeared. _Mindspeaking couldn't Hear him, FarSight couldn't See him, and all the ForeSeers could tell us was he was hurt, but he'd be back. Over a year later he stumbled into Haven with that scar on his back. And he wasn't - quite - right anymore. The MindHealers did what they could, but he's been angry ever since. Kaoru's the first one who got him to reach out again. She recognized the Yamato sign for "wicked" when she saw him on the Field, and just wouldn't stop BeSpeaking him until he started snapping back at her. She's the one who got him to start working with the Guard here. Said if he could meet the children, maybe he'd finally Heal._ : Sayvel whickered softly. : _It seems to have worked._ :

 _That, or getting socked in the jaw by a human a quarter his size rattled some brains loose._ "All together, Tostig seems to have put together enough facts of his own to ask for your help with Kurogasa," Kerowyn summed up. "Very quick man, Chief Tostig. Quick enough to realize what the hitokiri Udo Jin-e called you... _wasn't_ Kenshin."

Stillness. The man was a pool of stillness.

"I followed your trail in that clearing," Kerowyn said levelly. "I saw where you started to fight him. Where he wounded you. Where you bled, when he paralyzed Kaoru's lungs. And where you decided to kill him." Kerowyn rocked back on her heels, sighing. "Elspeth's an Adept, and I taught her myself about magic before we ever knew she had the Gift. Still, most of the mages she's dealt with have either been Quenten's friends - who I doubt she's ever really sparred with, we just haven't had _time_ from one magical or diplomatic crisis to the next - Hawkbrothers, an Imperial spy she flattened in Hardorn, or one particular Adept who was our sworn enemy. She's never even been on the sidelines of a full Duel Arcane like my grandmother fought, or the pure nastiness that gets going when two Masterclass mages duel it out. And given that the last Herald-Mage in Valdemar was Vanyel, who records say was one _hell_ of a swordsman, and Elspeth herself was carrying Need when she started working magic, she's missed one critical fact. _Mages don't start formal duels with swordsmen._ "

Kaoru's knuckles were white on the edge of her tunic. Sanosuke's muscles were bunched, as if he wanted nothing more than to jump off the mat and kick something.

Kenshin... was still.

Kerowyn waited a second. Gave him an infinitesimal nod. "You've broken no laws in Valdemar, or Sanosuke would have stomped you flat. So I'll tell you right up front: the worst that can happen to you - the very worst I, _personally_ , will let anyone do to you - is that you'll be escorted to the border of your choice, and asked not to come back." She let another breath pass. "Who are you?"

"Sessha is Himura Kenshin. A _rurouni_ , that I am." Violet eyes were low, avoiding hers. "But ten years ago, in Kyoto, sessha was known as... Hitokiri Battousai."

Kaoru was pale as Megumi's coat. Sanosuke gave the ex-mercenary a look of grim wariness. And Kerowyn...

Kerowyn was doing her level best not to let loose a Shin'a'in battle-cry in pure glee. _A hitokiri. My gods, we've got a live one!_

A live source of tactical and strategic information she couldn't find anywhere else. Who apparently had the humanity and honor, despite his bloody profession, to save a Herald's life.

Who'd just admitted what he was. Without coercion.

 _Sheka. He thinks he can get past me if he has to._ Kerowyn reviewed the trail of his fight with Jin-e in her mind. _He just might be right._

"Kenshin," Kaoru said in an urgent undertone.

"The Herald-Captain is an intelligent and persistent woman," Kenshin said levelly. "And it is not as if sessha's description is unknown."

: _Oh, come on,_ : Sanosuke objected. : _You can't be the only redheaded swordsman in all of Yamato..._ : White ears swung forward as Kenshin gave him a wry look. : _You're kidding!_ :

"Until sessha reached a fairly large settlement in Rethwellan, sessha had never seen _ningen_ with red hair," Kenshin said bluntly. "Ever."

 _Ningen. People_ , Kerowyn thought, hiding a frown. _Why did he say that?_

: _Because he_ hadn't _seen other redheaded people?_ : Sayvel put in privately. : _I don't think he's lying._ :

: _No,_ : Kero agreed. : _He's not lying. But something about that seems off._ :

"That's why you burn it," Kaoru said, half to herself. "I never find any of your hairs lying around." Catching Kero's interested glance, she blushed. "Anou - when I offered him a place to stay - well, you know most guys-"

"Couldn't find a broom if their lives depended on it," Kerowyn said easily. _Kaoru's not as scatterbrained as she looks. Hair's the next best thing to blood for a blood-path mage to use to work nastiness on an enemy. And when you've got hair your enemies can be_ sure _is yours - brrr. No wonder he still burns it. Old habits are hard to break._ "How in the Havens did you wind up in Rethwellan?"

Red silk shrugged. "It was the closest land to the Pelagirs."

"And you ended up in the Pelagirs...?" Kero prompted, then waved him to a stop when she saw the gleam of mischief in violet. Bright Lady, the man could probably drive poor, patient Sun-Priest Karal into starting up the Karsite witch-burnings all over again. "Why don't you start from the beginning. Preferably Kyoto." _Sanosuke protected you. Kaoru hid you. You can't be evil._

 _How did a man like you end up as a hitokiri?_

Kenshin nodded once. "How much do you know of Yamato, and the Revolution?"

"Pretend I don't know anything, and give me the short version." Kero leaned back a little. "I know your people planned for the long term, sending out a party with Koshijirou to find someplace safe to hide if their enemies won."

"But they did not. Not then." Kenshin gathered his thoughts. "As you say, the Revolution started years ago, and was planned for years before that. The Shogunate that ruled Yamato in the Emperor's name had become less and less effective; the excesses they allowed foreigners of Chi'in, the Eastern Empire, and other lands, more outrageous. At last the _daimyo_ , the great names, of Choshu and Satsuma declared they could bear no more. And the land overturned in war.

"I cannot speak to the shape of that war. My part was not, has never been, that of a planner of battles. I came to Katsura Kogoro's service angry with the injustice of the world, believing in the Ishin Shishi claim that all people would become equal, wrapped in the confidence that we would reshape the future with our hopes and blades. I truly believed that the deaths I wrought were necessary, clearing away the old to create the new." Kenshin looked into the distance, smiling faintly at that past self. "I was very young."

 _Katsura Kogoro,_ Kerowyn thought, storing details with furious haste. _Leader of Choshu before they ran. One of those who died so they could get here. So Battousai worked for Choshu- no, wait. He didn't say Katsura's house, the way Yamato do. He said Katsura, specifically._

: _And he's using "I",_ : Sayvel noted. : _This is the man without the mask. Interesting._ :

"For five years, I fought as the sword and shield of the Ishin Shishi. Until the battle of Toba Fushimi was won, and the Shogunate routed... and Hitokiri Battousai left his sword on the field and vanished." Kenshin sighed softly. "All that was left was the _rurouni_ , Himura Kenshin, who never wished to draw blood again." Violet lifted slightly, just touching the edge of her gaze. "Katsura - knew I had grown sick of death years before. Yet he needed me, so I stayed. Once he did not... he released me. And so I vanished into the night, wishing never to be known again."

Kaoru's mind-voice was a tentative whisper. : _Something horrible happened to him, didn't it?_ :

: _Probably,_ : Kerowyn agreed bluntly. : _Probably a lot of somethings. Fighting off invaders is bad enough. Civil war - he's got to have holes in him Selenay's MindHealers have never seen before. You sure you're up to having him here? Battle-scarred veterans are not easy to handle._ : Something else to gently thump one Empath over the head with; Talia might know veterans, but she knew _Valdemar's_ veterans. People who might have seen as much blood and horror as any hitokiri - but who also saw MindHealers as a matter of course.

Eyes like that... careful as he was to hide it, the Skybolt's captain knew wounds when she saw them. Kenshin hadn't seen a MindHealer. Kenshin hadn't dared.

Determination radiated from Kaoru. : _He's staying!_ :

: _It's not a lifebond, but it's definitely some kind of emotional link,_ : Sayvel said privately. : _You might as well be yelling at a tornado._ :

Terrific. Well, at least she was warned that neither of these two was likely to be completely rational. _Which would fit right in with half the Skybolts I've known_ , Kero thought wryly. "So - you just wandered around Yamato with that?" She nodded at the sheathed sakabatou.

"For some years, yes." Violet darkened. "And then the Mage-Storms came."

Kerowyn grimaced at the thought. No mages meant the Yamato wouldn't have been flattened the way some of the Alliance had been. But it also meant no way to protect nodes from going haywire, no way to weather-work the vicious physical storms that had wracked every land... and no way to predict the Change-Circles.

 _Unless you used blood-magic._

" _Kappa, tengu, youma_ , what you call Change-Creatures - they are not unknown in Yamato. It is a land of wild magic, and we know how to deal with such warpings when they turn to ill. But... to have such creatures _appear_ , in the midst of towns and villages, and start to slay... and feed..." Kenshin sipped his tea, face paler than usual.

Kerowyn swallowed dryly. "Creatures that used to be human, you mean."

"Aa." Kenshin winced. "Sessha had tried to forget, that I had. To use only the small Gifts, that do not need death to power them. To strike bloodlessly, and never with more force than was needed to stop the fight. But to see that-" His right hand moved, as if seizing air.

And closed on a pair of iron sheaths.

Daisho, Kerowyn recognized, throttling the instinct that might have sent her across the lantern for his throat. The man was setting the paired swords of a samurai down, not preparing to strike; laying them with a trooper's care beside his sakabatou, with a bittersweet smile that treasured the works of a smith's art that saved his life, and yet still was painfully aware of what that beauty cost. "Where did you Fetch them from?"

: _Kaoru's room,_ : Sanosuke stuck in. : _Nobody looks in there. Too scary._ :

"And just what would _your_ corner of the stables look like if the Palace didn't have stable help?" Kaoru demanded.

: _Messy,_ : the Companion admitted cheerfully. : _Hey, I don't have hands. What do you expect?_ :

"The Change-Circles were bad enough, but then Chi'in decided that since we had no mages, no great magics, that were destroyed by the storms, then we must be the cause. They invaded." Kenshin shrugged. "And the government of Meiji, new and untried, had a great deal of difficulty driving them out. Many died. Many suffered. And many, who had been quick to cry for change, now clamored that the ways of the Shogunate were tested and true, and should return. They found their champion in Saigo Takamori and his allies, the ronin and hitokiri who could not thrive in Meiji's peace."

"But Takamori was an Ishin Shishi," Kerowyn stated neutrally. _I've heard Yamagata's explanation of this, as far as it went. Mostly growls about "traitors" and "ungrateful"._

"Who could not accept that to free ourselves of the Shogunate's injustice, we must also cast aside many of the privileges samurai claimed as right," Kenshin declared. "We are a proud people, Herald-Captain. It is not easy for a man or woman raised to believe they have the right to slay those who offend them to learn to stay their hand. Even if it is learned, it grates on the soul. If the Mage-Storms had not come, if we had had even a few more years of peace, for our people to adapt to the newness, for our children to learn new thoughts..."

"It's not your fault," Kaoru put in.

"But if sessha had stayed-"

"It's not! Listen to me." Kaoru's jaw set. "You did what any of us would do. You tried to take violence out of the equation. You're a fighter, not a diplomat. That was Katsura's job, right? You left his service, which means he _let_ you go. And that means _he_ thought it was the best idea."

 _Katsura. Now there's a man I wish I'd met. Even secondhand, he sounds like he was one of the sanest war-leaders out there, Selenay included. And if he thought it was better for one of his men to disappear..._ Kerowyn arched an eyebrow. "Your reputation's that frightening."

: _Try Demon-caller Vanyel-stories among the Karsites before Solaris took power,_ : Sanosuke stuck in. : _Gensai never tells his granddaughters "be good or the Battousai will get you", but there's a lot of Edoko who do. Kyotoko aren't as bad, but they know the_ stories, _not the legends. And those are scary enough._ :

"Sessha... did not hear of the battles, at their start," Kenshin went on reluctantly. "I was far away, aiding folk of a northern village in trapping a litter of Changed cold-drakes. Magic had made them smaller, barely the length of a man. But their powers were undimmed, and they hunted as a pack-" A shift of shoulders, and he set the memory aside. "Sessha was quite surprised when the village _miko_ seized me by the ear and dragged me aside, that I was. She had the gift of the future; ForeSight, you call it. And what she had seen-" His fists clenched. "Blood. Kyoto and Edo burning. Choshu and Satsuma destroyed as if they had never been, the bones of their children bleaching in the wind."

Kerowyn frowned. _And here's the part that Yamagata always tries to gloss over._ "Takamori would have done that?"

"Not Saigo-san, no. His ally. Whose name I do not know. But he... he too was _hitokiri_. I felt him, that last day, when I fought my way to Katsura's side." Violet eyes met hers, alight with startling sparks of amber. "I remember only pieces of that day. There was so much death, such a desperate struggle to gather all of our people we could before Choshu linked power with Satsuma to Jump. Two clans and allies from others, spread in two cities and two outer domains; four Jumps to link as one. A nightmare. Our _miko_ had ForeSight enough to warn Katsura months before, but even so there was barely enough time..."

Kerowyn waited, giving him time to compose himself. _He was in the thick of it, all right. Come to think of it, didn't Yamagata say something about the Jump almost failing? That it almost didn't come together, but Katsura somehow pulled more power in at the last moment- Oh._

: _Fought his way in,_ : Sayvel agreed grimly. : _If he's as good as you think, add a pile of death-energies to the Jump, and that would do it._ :

"Katsura ordered me to go," Kenshin said quietly. "I wished to stay. I did not wish to leave him to a lone death, without a second to ease the pain. But... the last he asked of me, the last he ever asked, was to go. To guard his people. And above all, to not allow myself to be taken."

 _Because mages can use each other_ , Kerowyn thought starkly. _And good as you are, no one's good enough to fight a whole army._

"I was... one of the last to enter the Jump. Rearguard. And so I was one of the first to feel it, when the Seinan hitokiri tried to seize the power away from us. To shred the Jump, so none of us would survive. We patched it, we hitokiri who remained, though most of us died in the doing. But there was one gap left. And that one, I seized." The swordsman looked aside. "The rest, I truly do not recall, save that there was pain and light and a desperate grasp for the fabric of _this_ world out of the eddies of the other." A sigh left his lips. "The next sessha remembers is waking on some very hard rocks, in a place it took a long time to learn was called the Pelagirs. Sessha was... cold. And empty. But alive." Kenshin smiled weakly. "Sessha found shelter and water, made fire enough to warm them, and waited for the backlash headache to fade enough to see. It took many days. But then, Shishou always said sessha was too stubborn to die."

Kerowyn tried not to stare. _Dropped on my head out of a battlefield with no food, no supplies beyond what I had on me, and a blinding backlash headache. In the middle of magic-torn hills even the Tayledras don't walk alone. I'm not sure_ I _could have made it._

: _Explains part of the scruffiness,_ : Sayvel observed. : _But if he was in the Pelagirs - well._ Someone _should have noticed._ :

: _Several someones,_ : Kerowyn agreed. : _Remind me to check which Clan is out there._ :

"How did you talk to the Hawkbrothers?" Kaoru wondered, echoing her thoughts. "You're not a Mindspeaker, and I know you don't have Tayledras."

"Sessha avoided the Hawkbrothers, that I did," Kenshin said dryly. "Gaijin mages, coupled with outsize birds whose very ki whispered of magic in their veins? Sessha stayed very still and quiet when they were about."

"Dropped out of a hole in the sky made by blood-magic, and they didn't find you?" Kerowyn crossed her arms skeptically.

Kenshin didn't quite snort. "If sessha couldn't damp ki, I would not have lived this long, that I would not."

"With a backlash headache?" Kaoru persisted.

"It's not the first one sessha has had, that it isn't," Kesshin said frankly. "Shishou was _very_ thorough." The hints of amber had vanished; now only tired violet looked at them. "It took time, but sessha worked my way out of the hills to lower ground, trading labor and herb-healing for food and knowledge of the local tongues. With more time, sessha found enough Change-Circles to grasp the pattern of where I was in relation to where the Jump had meant to go. Roughly. So sessha wandered here, to Haven, where I hoped to hear rumors of what might have become of Choshu." He turned his hands palm-up, nails catching an odd glint of light before the shadows of his sleeves hid them once more. "And the rest you know, Kerowyn-dono."

 _Found Haven by looking at the pattern of the Change-Circles_ , Kerowyn thought, stunned. _No, you are definitely not as dumb as you try to look._

 _Please._ Kaoru's blue eyes were as open as a Mindheard plea. _Please, see what I see. Please don't turn him away._

Kerowyn took a deep breath. Let it sigh out. "All right. I haven't heard anything that would lead us to jail you, much less throw you out of Valdemar."

"But?" Kenshin said neutrally.

"But _behave_ ," Kerowyn replied bluntly. "Keep _those_ -" she jabbed her chin toward the daisho, "-out of sight. I'm going to have to talk to some people, and it'll go a lot easier if I can tell them you're sticking to non-lethal force." She rose, setting the cup aside. "Speaking of. I take it the shrine was too far to Fetch your swords, but next time someone tries to kill a Herald, you should detour enough to get them first-"

"It was not too far."

Kerowyn gave him a look askance. _Then why didn't you, you idiot?_

"Jin-e was skilled, Kerowyn-dono." Violet was deep and guileless. "But not that skilled."

 _I am not running_ , Kerowyn told the little prickle running up and down her spine as she left the room. _I'm just leaving, I'm not running..._

: _I notice you're not saying you're not scared,_ : Sayvel pointed out.

: _Hells, yes, I'm scared,_ : Kero shot back, shutting the outer door behind her. : _That man's death on two feet, just as much as Tarma ever was, and he doesn't trust me yet. Can't say I blame him, either. If he did what I think he did to stop that Final Strike - I can think of half a dozen Heralds who would have run him through then and there._ :

: _You're right,_ : Sayvel admitted. : _We like to think we know about expediency, but-_ :

: _You get spoiled, here in Valdemar,_ : Kero finished, pulling on her boots. : _We're so good at our job, we Heralds, we tend to catch bad problems before they get worse. And the hard choices usually end with us deciding to die._ : A wry smile bent her lips as she walked to the courtyard well. : _And here's someone who knows about hard choices._ : "Healer Gensai."

Pouring out water into a carry-bucket for his herb garden in the thin light before dawn, Gensai straightened. "I thought you might not be finished yet, Herald-Captain."

 _Start small_ , Kerowyn told herself. "I'd be interested in knowing just what happened between those two youngsters." She gave him a knowing look. "Given that, if I was hearing those curses right, Himura has a strong suspicion _you're_ responsible."

"No more than that poor young man is himself, staying on the road alone so many years," Gensai said matter-of-factly, glancing over the garden to plot out just how many buckets he'd need. "You should have seen his clan-channels. Knotted up like old rope! I've seen some ronin in bad shape down the years, but-" The Healer caught her narrowed eyes, and shrugged. "He was an accident waiting to happen, Weaponsmaster. I thought it'd be best if he happened here."

"Not good enough," Kero said flatly. "That's a Herald in there, Gensai. _My student._ Now what in all the hells is a _clan-channel?_ "

Gensai sighed. Set the well-bucket back in its place on the edge. Untied his sleeves, letting them fall back over his arms. "Do you know why we pity ronin, Captain?"

"You're clannish people, and they're cut loose without a place," Kero stated. "What else?"

"They die."

 _They- he can't be serious._ Kero weighed the Healer's stance, his expression, every last leaking hint of thought. _He_ is _serious._ "Keep talking," she said neutrally.

"I imagine the Heralds have noticed we of Yamato all have a trace of Gifts?" Gensai waited for her nod. "It has a price. The energies within us can be - irregular. Especially among samurai. If your clan-channels are closed, if all that you are is sealed within yourself, those Gifts can ebb or surge with little warning. So we need each other. Clan, family - it's not just the most important thing in our lives, Captain. Our clan _is_ our life. To be without clan, without another soul to share energies and emotions with... it's a slow and ugly way to die."

"Say I believe that," Kero said skeptically. "You're a Healer. Why not bind him to you? Why Kamiya-" She stopped. "No."

"Oh, yes," Gensai said gravely. "She may have been born here in Valdemar, but she _is_ samurai. And with her father dead, she's all of Kamiya there is left." He smiled suddenly. "Besides, there's a great deal of instinct involved in bonding. Who's a young man going to let touch his aura, hmm? A dried-up old grandfather like me, or the sweet young swordswoman whose life he just saved?"

Kero chuckled. "No contest." She let the humor slip away. "Though given you were a friend of her father's, I'm not sure Koshijirou would be all that happy with you right now."

"Oh, I think he would, once he'd gotten over the shock," Gensai said soberly. "I think he'd be very pleased indeed. We spoke often about Kaoru's future after I came to Haven; sometimes I wonder if he didn't have a premonition..." He sighed. "She's half-gaijin, you know. So long as her only potential suitors were of Valdemar, it didn't matter, but once the clans were here... well, that... that could make things difficult, with most samurai."

 _Snooty as damn hidebound Holderkin,_ Kerowyn thought, keeping the distaste off her face. "And you don't think Himura would have the same problem?"

"If he had, the bond never would have happened," Gensai stated. "It won't take where there's hate, Captain. Only affection. Friendship. Or at least the will to try. Oh, he may look like something the wind blew in, but of all the prospects in all the clans... I'm going to be burning incense at the family tablets for the next month, at least. Koshijirou must have called in some serious favors among the spirits to arrange this kind of luck."

 _Luck?_ Kerowyn searched for the words to let him down gently. "Kamiya wanted to build a sword-style that wouldn't kill..."

"And the one thing he wanted above all else, was to be sure Kaoru never bonded to a man who was not worthy of her. Who did not understand-" Gensai's voice dropped, "-what a terrible thing it is, to wield a killer's blade."

Kerowyn stiffened. Regarded the small man before her with new respect. "How long have you known?"

The elderly Healer let out a quiet breath. "Since I saw him giving my granddaughters piggy-back rides, the morning after he brought young Kaoru home. There aren't many samurai strong enough to play children's games, I'll have you know. Couple that with the red hair, and the scar... he may be able to damp his ki enough to pass your Heralds, but that poor young man can no more hide than a gryphon in a flock of chickens."

Kerowyn fought the urge to gape. "You feel sorry for him?"

"Sorry. No, not sorry." Gensai dipped his fingers in still water. "We're two sides of the same coin, Healers and hitokiri. I just never felt the call of the blade."

"You're a Healer. He's a killer," Kero said bluntly. "How in the Havens can you say you're the same?"

"You're a Mindspeaker, yes? Link with a Healer killing an infection sometime." The older man regarded her with warm sympathy. "We're ruthless, we Healers. Oh, we hide it well. So well many of us never know what we truly are. We smile, and we scold, and we cajole, and every once in a while we chase down patients, shaking our fists. And you laugh, and believe the mask, because we're so kind to you. So needed." He shook his head. "Yet all the time, we're more vicious and bloodthirsty than most mercenaries will ever be. Wounds, infection, death; those are our enemies, and we search them out and destroy them. No matter how small, no matter where they hide, no matter how they plead for mercy. There's no quarter asked, and none given. When we step in something is going to die. And we do it all to defend those we care for." He watched her take that in, and nodded. " _That,_ Herald-Captain, is a hitokiri."

* * *

 _She's gone._ Kaoru let out an explosive sigh, listening to Sano's hoof-falls as they left the engawa for the courtyard. "Are you sure you're all right?"

"Hai. Kaoru-dono, please-"

"You've been in a fight. I felt you tear through the ropes on me. I'm hoping Kerowyn thinks you just used a knife. Let me _see_."

Kenshin's fingers clenched. Reluctantly uncurled in her grip.

Even after almost two weeks, Kaoru's breath still caught in her throat. _'Tousan told me, but I couldn't really believe..._

Instead of nails, pale claws graced the swordsman's fingers; translucent as a white cat's, with a hint of the silvery sheen of a Companion's hooves.

 _Probably for some of the same reasons_ , Kaoru thought. _Hanyou live in energy. But it doesn't bleach them. Which doesn't make sense - hold on. Firebirds live in energy too, don't they? They'd have to, to spread fires the way they can. And they don't bleach. Not unless they're like Adept Firesong's bondbird, who lives in node-magic with the rest of the Tayledras. Maybe it's more like what Healers use? But then again - Sun-Priest Karal's Altra is something like a Companion, and_ he's _got red markings._ She stroked her fingers along the graceful curves, remembering their warm smoothness against her cheek. So gentle in that touch, when they could be so terrible in anger. Alone, those claws could shred flesh and blood like knives. With Kenshin's will and Gift to back them, one slash could take down small trees.

 _At least we don't have to spend a lot of time chopping firewood around here lately..._

"Kaoru-dono?"

Kaoru started. _Right. You were supposed to be checking._ "Anou... they look okay to me-"

"It is all right if you merely wish to look, that it is." Kenshin's smile was close-lipped as always, politely not showing any telltale flash of fang. "It must be startling to live with merely the tales of Yamato, then have those tales begin to live and breathe about you." He glanced away. "At least you have not shot arrows at this one."

 _Not like the Rethwellans did._ She hadn't gotten all the details of Kenshin's first disastrous encounter with those farmers out of him, before he'd learned to hide his claws, but she could fill in the blanks of what he hadn't said.

 _He didn't expect an attack. He walked in just as he would to any village, not hiding what he was. Why should he?_ Red hair. _Anyone in Yamato would know he has youkai blood in his veins._

She reached out a hand to touch it, marveling again at the silky softness. More like fox fur than human hair, thick bangs gleaming with all the shades of flame over eyes and ears before the leather tie subdued waist-length locks into one thick tail down his back.

Her fingers sought a little deeper, sifting through red bangs to trace the hidden sweep of a pointed ear. While Kenshin's eyes and hair shouted youkai to the world, his ears still had the subtler arch of a youkai's humanoid shape. Easy to hide, unlike those rarer hanyou whose ears mimicked the great beasts that were youkai's other forms. _At least you were lucky in that_ , Kaoru thought sadly.

Not that Kenshin would probably consider it lucky. Not after being tentatively welcomed, offered care like any lost traveler - the first friendly care he'd seen since the Jump had gone wrong-

Then driven off by those same folk, suddenly intent on killing him.

"They were just scared. They know living near the Pelagirs is risky. And everyone's heard stories about what happened to people who got caught in the Change-Circles. Especially east of Hardorn. How they - sometimes still looked human. But weren't. Not where it mattered." Kaoru swallowed dryly. "A lot of those stories are true."

"Sessha - knows. But it hurt, being feared. And to realize we will likely always be feared, here where we had sought safe refuge. Sessha can see why Yamagata-san settled Maboroshi as fast as could be done. At least there, where we may choose which gaijin come and go, those of us who are hanyou who wish to live openly may. But sessha fears for the children. Those who do not yet know they are hanyou. How will we explain? How will we raise them to be proud of what they are, with this fear breathing about them?" Red hair glimmered as Kenshin shook his head. "Fear without leads to fear within. And that will create the monsters your people seek to destroy, that it will."

"Not if I can help it." It hurt, not saying any more than that. She wanted to tell him Kerowyn wasn't the only Herald willing to let a former hitokiri alone; wanted to spill every detail of her meetings with Talia and a very few other Heralds, as she delicately laid bare what her boarder was inadvertently teaching her about his very private people. Wanted to blurt out that he was _safe_ , no one would drive him from Haven, Selenay herself wanted him here-

But if he knew that, he would run. And the Heralds would lose their best chance to come to terms with what they'd thought was just a legend.

 _A legend Kerowyn doesn't know about. Yet._ Kaoru held out a hand for the small pouch of tools he kept in his sleeve. "Start at the edges, work out to the tip?"

She lost herself in the careful strokes of stone against silvery translucence, wearing away jagged edges to the sharpness of fresh claw beneath. Kenshin was perfectly capable of doing this himself; most adult hanyou looked after their own claws, just as a warrior did his sword, and for much the same reasons.

 _Though 'Tousan said something about family doing this together, sometimes. Parents and children. Young adults trying to figure out if they're serious about pairing. Lovemates..._

Kaoru glanced away, trying not to flush. She was doing this for the children. For one child in particular. Gensai-isha's daughter-in-law had been born hanyou, love-child of a minor youkai and the ningen Healer who had once succored him, and the Gensai family themselves had as many hanyou in their lineage as most samurai. While Ayame was old enough for most Yamato to count her safely in the ranks of ningen, her younger sister Suzume might still change. And an adult hanyou was a lot easier to practice on than a squirming two-year-old whose claws were just coming in.

 _A very patient adult hanyou_ , Kaoru thought, as Kenshin's hand twitched at a careless stroke. "Sorry." She examined the damage, made a few more careful passes to smooth out the rough spot. "I wonder if this is what a _trondi'irn_ feels like, taking care of their gryphon friends."

"Now those," Kenshin admitted, "sessha should very much like to see. There are none in Yamato."

Kaoru's brows climbed. "You're sure?"

"Sessha has thought through every tale Shishou told, every book ever read, every traveler's tale heard in roadside inns. Gryphons are no creatures of the Kami-born Isles. Perhaps they never have been." He paused, frowning. "Though there are tales of creatures that _might_ be gryphons, guarding gold in the deserts of Chi'in."

"Doesn't sound like the gryphons I know. Not that I really know them," Kaoru added hastily. "Treyvan and Hydona spend most of their time in the Mage's Collegium, and I was only there for the class on magic and fakery. Karal's pretty nice for a Sun-Priest." Now she did blush. "Anou... I know we've had Sun-Priests in Valdemar for years, and Karse is part of the Alliance _now_ , but 'Tousan was in the Guard when they were still torturing Heralds when they caught them. As soon as Megumi Chose me, he marched right over to the Collegium with half his books on Karse tactics."

"The act of a wise and compassionate samurai." Kenshin reclaimed his fingers with a sigh of relief. "But you said they have children?"

"Lytha and Jerven," Kaoru nodded, brushing off the stone. "They're cute. Well, they used to be cute," she amended. "Lytha's probably just getting to pretty by gryphon standards, given that Jerven's starting to get an attitude like Yahiko's."

: _Worse,_ : Megumi put in from her shelter in the courtyard. : _Makes me wish I had wings. Just for a quarter of a candle-mark._ : A distinct image of horsy teeth closing on a feathered tail came with the thought. : _I don't know how Gwena puts up with them. Though I swear it has something to do with how she always acts like she knows something the rest of us don't._ :

 _Like Companion, like Chosen,_ Kaoru thought wryly. Though this time it wasn't just Elspeth who seemed to know something she hadn't, but Kerowyn as well... "I thought-" Kaoru swallowed. "You said a hitokiri was an _assassin_."

She felt the sigh in his fingers. "Jin-e was hitokiri. And an assassin. As... sessha was. Once."

 _Do not thump, do not thump, do not_ , Kaoru chanted to herself. _Gods, give me patience - and I want it_ right now!

"It is - easy, to be both. Efficient. One snuffs out the life of one's enemy, and seizes that energy to do even greater harm. Or to save one's own self. Or those about one. Sessha has... done all of that, at one time or another."

She gulped back a sob. _It hurts. Oh kami, it hurts._ "So you're... a blood-mage."

"I am one who was taught to use the strength of death," Kenshin said quietly. "As I was taught to use the strength of _any_ energy about me, if the need were great."

Kaoru blinked. "Any energy?" she repeated, confused. "But - you don't have Mage-Gift-"

"I do not." Fangs caught his lip between them a moment, as Kenshin set his thoughts in order. "Kaoru-dono. Correct sessha if I am wrong. But it seems those mages sessha has crossed paths with in Rethwellan, and Valdemar, are taught much like those of the Eastern Empire, whose training in turn closely matches those of Chi'in. And what one has read of those mages, and seen on the battlefield, leads one to believe they are taught but two paths of magic: the inward path of the Mage-Gift, and the dark outward path of blood sacrifice."

She nodded, almost not daring to breathe. _Is he saying-?_

"There is another way."

Blue eyes widened.

"No; truth," Kenshin said, almost soundlessly. "Only the truth, for one who dares so much to find it." He glanced down, then up again. "There is a _wider_ way. One which can be practiced without slaying the soul. _Satsujin-ken_."

 _Murderous sword technique,_ Kaoru thought. _What 'Tousan tried to turn inside-out, to build_ katsujin-ken; _swords that give_ life. _The techniques that let me strengthen my Gift, use Truth Spell with less effort-_ She drew in a sharp breath. "Truth Spell."

"Is a true magic to summon the little air creatures, shaped by techniques the Heralds have passed down for centuries, and fed by the energy of your Mindspeech," Kenshin nodded. "It is the very edge of what we know in Yamato; that while Mage-Gift is the strongest, the most _controllable_ way to call and shape magic to will, it is not the _only_ way. Any Gift that allows one to touch and mold energy will do. Fire-Starting, for acts of destruction. Mindspeech, for all the magic of illusion and soul. And the most common among our people, the one we have trained widest and deepest, to kill and Heal and carry us through impossible feats... is Fetching."

Kaoru couldn't look away. "You can Heal?"

"It costs me," Kenshin admitted. "But yes. If I have hunted, or if I am on the battlefield... hai, I can Heal." He hesitated, drew breath, and went on. "And... I _have_ hunted to do so, Kaoru-dono. And would again. There are illnesses that strike Chi'in and Yamato that you have never seen here. The White Death, that you call Hammer Lung, a sickness of the lungs that always kills. The pox, that can blind when it does _not_ kill. Or even simple wounds and sicknesses gone untouched too long, when the samurai commanded the Healers elsewhere..." He squared his shoulders. "Sessha is trained to the sword, Kaoru-dono. If one _must_ fight, _must_ kill - then a hitokiri tries to honor that kill. To strike once, and be done with it. Without hate. Without suffering." He searched her gaze, violet eyes sparkling with the faintest hints of amber. "And that is where Jin-e lost his way."

 _If we don't stop Kurogasa's murders, more people will suffer_ , Kenshin had said, when Sanosuke had asked why he would help guard Tani, a man who knew all too well who he had been. _Including Kurogasa himself._

 _Honor the kill._ Kaoru drew a shaky breath. She'd heard those words used to refer to hunting, but to human beings...

"Sessha disgusts you." Red bangs hid his gaze. "One could be gone within the hour-"

"No!" Kaoru clamped down on his fingers, drawing a stifled yip. "You _idiot!_ How far do you think you could get with Kerowyn on your trail? She knows swordsmen. She knows mages. And she wouldn't just be after you for Valdemar; she'd be _mad_. You're staying right here!"

"Oro..."

 _I_ want _him to stay right here_ , Kaoru realized, stunned. _I want - I don't understand!_

: _It's your Gift, Chosen,_ : Megumi said privately. : _It seems to have snuck right through his shields and made itself comfortable._ :

: _But I'm a_ Herald!: Kaoru almost wailed. : _I shouldn't-_ :

: _He hasn't done_ anything _except defensive magic. Blood-mage or not, none of us can fault him for that._ : Megumi's tone softened. : _And... you didn't hear what I just overheard, from Gensai. Kenshin_ needs _you, Kaoru. He needs someone to care about, or one of these days his own Gifts will kill him._ :

Right; 'Tousan had said something about that once. That samurai couldn't stay ronin forever. That part of the reason he'd joined the Guard was to find fellow warriors he could trust, to balance him.

: _Now that that's settled,_ : Megumi spoke to both of them, too casually, : _would somebody tell this big oaf to head back to the Field where he belongs?_ :

: _Ah, c'mon, Megumi,_ : Sanosuke's voice held a rough charm. : _I don't bite._ :

:I _do._ :

Silence. Kenshin stifled a snicker in his sleeve.

: _Oh sure, laugh it up, rurouni. Just you wait. Don't think I don't know what you two are going to get up to the minute I walk out these gates!_ :

A red brow arched. "Sessha's going to _bed_ , Sanosuke."

: _Exactly._ : The implication dripped off the thought.

"But - anou - alone - _sleep_ ," Kenshin sputtered.

Kaoru flushed red, then white, then red again. "What? I'm not a _geisha_ , so I'm not pretty enough? I'll have you know the locals call me the Rose of Kenjutsu!"

"Sessha's sure they do, Kaoru-dono-"

"And? So?" Kaoru demanded, nose a bare thumb-length from his as she glowered into startled violet. "And what's with the _dono_ , anyway? You're not in Rethwellan, you can have a little pride-"

Sweat gleamed on Kenshin's brow. "Sessha's not going to win this one." He bowed swiftly. "Good night, Kaoru-dono. Or good morning."

"Just hold on-"

She was talking to empty air.

"Argh!"

: _You really did want him to stay, didn't you?_ : Megumi sent her sympathy. : _You do need sleep, you know._ :

: _I know. I know! I'm just so confused... and he said he wouldn't leave, but he's still afraid to stay. I wouldn't want to - wouldn't want to make him feel he_ has _to stay. But..._ : Kaoru let the protest die off, and headed for her own futon.

 _But I didn't want to be alone._

: _You're not alone, Chosen,:_ Kaoru heard as sleep settled in. : _Sanosuke's alone._ :

: _Yeah... s'too bad,_ : Kaoru thought back, snuggling under the covers. : _S'nice guy under all that kicking..._ :

: _Hmm..._ :

Kaoru's eyes shot open. : _"Hmm"? What hmm?_ :

: _Just a thought. Probably nothing._ :

: _Megumi!_ :

:Sleep, _Chosen. Do you want to face Kerowyn and whoever else might get dragged into this on a sleepless night?_ :

: _You're plotting something!_ :

: _I'm just looking at possibilities,_ : Megumi said defensively. : _Slim possibilities. Very unlikely. Don't worry about it._ :

: _Famous last words._ : Evoking old meditation exercises, Kaoru drove herself into oblivion.

The last thing she heard was Megumi snickering.

* * *

 _Ronin_ \- "wave man", masterless samurai.

 _Rurouni_ \- "wandering swordsman"; Watsuki created this word.

 _Kappa_ \- water-spirits like monkeys with turtle shells that strangle travelers, but can be bribed by cucumbers.

 _Tengu_ \- "goblins"; there are at least two kinds.

 _Youma_ \- "devils".

 _Youkai_ \- "demons"; supernatural creatures.

 _Satsujin-ken_ \- Murderous sword technique.

 _'Tousan_ \- father.

 _Geisha_ \- "art person". Skilled entertainers and conversationalists, trained in dance, song, tea ceremonies, and other arts, often objects of romance. The line between geisha, _oiran_ (courtesans), and _tayu_ (elite prostitutes) can be fuzzy depending on what time in history you're looking at.

 _Kenjutsu_ \- sword arts.


	3. Chapter 3

: _And a left, and a right, and - this way?_ : Kaoru asked, tracing her way through halls she hadn't set foot in for over a year.

: _That way,_ : Megumi confirmed. : _If I hadn't seen them take it over, I'd never have believed this was the old Guard barracks. Do mages have to complicate everything?_ :

: _Megumi._ : Kaoru tried not to roll her eyes. : _The elf-knots were years ago._ :

: _So?_ : Her Companion snorted, projecting the wincing memory of just what it had felt like to comb and cut the mass of tiny knots out of mane and tail. : _If young mages want to practice tangle-cantrips on fine strands, they should try the Court ladies' embroidery circle!_ :

Kaoru sighed, thinking of the Haven weaving competition that had come within inches of going drastically wrong. : _I suppose it doesn't matter that they_ missed?:

: _NO._ :

Kaoru shook her head, taking a deep breath. _You can do this. Master Sejanes isn't an Imperial anymore, he's part of the Alliance. He is_ not _going to eat you. And Kenshin said he'd stay put. He's got the laundry, the garden, and the children to look after, Sanosuke's looking in on him, you know he's smart enough to stay inside today and let the fuss die down..._

Unless, of course, someone got into trouble near the Kamiya dojo.

Wincing, Kaoru made one of her father's old hand-gestures to ward off bad luck. Raised her hand to knock.

 _Wait. That's not just Sejanes in there._

Cautiously, she reached out with her odd Empathy. _Ki sense_ , her father had called it. The mark of a good swordsman.

 _Only I don't know how you can use it with swords when it keeps giving me a headache!_

Unlike regular Empathy, it just wouldn't shield, no matter how she and Megumi tried. Being around large groups of people rubbed her raw inside. Being around lots of Heralds could be easier, with the trained Heralds, or agonizingly _worse_. Trainee Gifts opening up in class had knocked her out more than once.

 _Another reason Dean Teren kept my circuit here in Haven_ , Kaoru thought ruefully. _All it would take is one young Gift waking while I'm in the middle of a blizzard, and Megumi would be hauling in a Herald-sicle._

At least it didn't bother her in the dojo. Or around Yamato in general, oddly enough. They were... quiet. Like shadows. About as far from the "loud" and "bright" of an unleashed Gift as she could imagine.

 _I guess it's good for knowing if you're up against a Gifted opponent_ , Kaoru shrugged. _Like now._ She could feel the hard-edged brightness of a mage, the rough glow of a full Herald, and the fierce strength that said _Weaponsmaster_. "Captain?"

A familiar laugh penetrated polished wood. Kerowyn opened the door, giving her a considering look. "That is a neat trick, Kamiya."

"You wouldn't like the side effects." Kaoru stepped into Sejanes' workroom, automatically marking the at-rest stance of the elderly ex-Imperial and Herald Eldan's diplomatic lounge on a wooden chair. Her glance strayed to the bloodied katana on a stretch of table that had been cleared by the expedient of pushing papers, brushes, and odd bits of curved metal to one side. _Jin-e's katana._ "You wanted to see me?"

"We're hoping you can clear a few things up." Kerowyn swept a hand across, indicating the katana and its accompanying gear. "You know Yamato swords. Does any of that seem out of place?"

 _Let's see. Cleaning kit. Water bottle. Bandages. Flint and steel, matches and tinder..._

One by one Kaoru sorted through the items and named them. "I don't know, Weaponsmaster. This is all gear a samurai would carry into battle. What am I looking for?"

"You haven't touched the sword," Eldan noted.

"I don't have to. And I don't want to." Kaoru shuddered. "It hates me."

"Does it?" Sejanes raised a gray brow, military-cut hair bristling with curiosity.

"Not exactly," Kaoru said lamely. How to explain to someone who couldn't sense it? "It _feels_ like hate. Like all the lives Jin-e stole, weighing it down like lead chains. Like... like blood-hunger. If I tried to use that sword - it would hurt." She swallowed dryly. "Kenshin said... when a man kills too many, too long, he loses his purpose in the smell and color of blood. That's what that sword feels like." Not like Kenshin's. The small swordsman's blades were touched with grief, anger, the will to protect. Like her father's.

Only her father's had never carried that ghostly taste of blood.

Kerowyn frowned. "I thought you said there wasn't any blood-magic left in that blade, Sejanes."

"There isn't." The golden-brown robes of a Mages' Collegium instructor swished around the older man as he walked over for a closer look at bloody steel. "But I'd venture to say its purpose has marked it deeply, especially if the man's been assassinating people for over a decade."

"He was a blood-path mage," Eldan pointed out coolly.

"Fifteen years ago, I might have agreed with you. Looking at the evidence, though..." Sejanes turned on her. "Herald Kamiya. What is a _hitokiri?_ "

Kaoru hesitated. : _Weaponsmaster?_ :

: _He's the closest thing to an expert on Yamato magic I could find. He knows._ : Kerowyn gave her a slow nod. : _He also knows how to keep his mouth shut._ :

 _Please let her be right. Oh, Kenshin._ "'Tousan didn't want to talk about them much," Kaoru answered. "Hitokiri means _manslayer_ , and he said Kamiya Kasshin Ryu would never follow that path. That if we had to kill, we would brush aside the _ki_ of a death, like any samurai, so it won't harm those we protect. But we would never pattern our swords to use it." She kept her hands from shaking with an effort. "I didn't really understand what that meant. Until last night. When I saw what Jin-e could do." _When Kenshin told me what_ he _could do. What he must have done, to keep Jin-e's fire from burning us alive..._

"Sword-patterns. Kata?" Sejanes asked, dark eyes alert and interested. "You can use kata to manipulate magic?"

"Mind-Magic," Kaoru answered. "I've... never had the chance to try it with real magic. It's like meditation, just moving. I can shield better, project farther, even if all I have is a shinai. But I think... hitokiri can do a lot more than that."

"They can." Sejanes sighed. "Well, Captain. Based on this, I think I can give you a better idea of what you're dealing with." Laugh-wrinkles crinkled around his eyes. "Would you prefer the good news or the bad news first?"

"Let's do good news, for once." Eldan crossed his arms. "Jin-e's Final Strike burned itself out?"

"Was snuffed out," Sejanes corrected, not quite touching the blade. "I can see how Elspeth might have made that mistake, though I'm surprised Darkwind didn't detect the difference. Still, I suppose even a Hawkbrother might not know what to look for unless he'd met it before." He looked Kaoru straight in the eye. "Just as a fire can't burn without fuel, a spell can't function without energy. Someone tore that energy away from Jin-e, breaking all the personal locks on his power in the process. Very professionally done."

Kaoru tried not to wince.

"I thought we asked for the good news," Eldan muttered.

"That is the good news, young man," Sejanes said severely. "Most blood-path mages never bother to cultivate this level of skill. Which is a pity. There's enough energy left over on most battlefields to accomplish more than an arrogant bastard like the late Falconsbane could with a dozen blood sacrifices. _If_ you have the patience and skills to use it effectively. You don't have a mad killer on your hands. I should think that would be _very_ good news."

"And the bad news?" Kerowyn asked.

Sejanes pointed at the pile of equipment. "No components. No charged foci. Nothing, in short, to mark this man as anything other than a highly competent swordsman." He lowered his hand. "You don't have a blood-path mage on your hands. At least, not the kind you're used to thinking of. Jin-e - and, I'd wager, your Himura - are very different creatures entirely."

Kaoru's fists clenched.

"Yamato." Sejanes sighed. "Tremane and I must have visited that land half a dozen times in the service of the Iron Throne. And each time, we were surprised all over again." He tapped a finger against the table. "Imagine the Pelagirs, with all their wild magic, and multiply that ten times over. Twist and contort the whole of it into four sea-washed islands, so violent and unstable that the earth shakes daily, people build with paper rather than brick because they _expect_ the building to fall down on them, and even the smallest village supports a _miko_ , a shrine maiden, just to warn of the great sea-waves that rise out of the ocean without warning. A land so fierce, so dangerous, that the Eastern Empire has done no more than gain a toehold for trade. _That_ is Yamato." He laughed at himself. "Back then, we believed the _miko_ and _houshi_ were just charlatans, 'predicting' the future and 'casting out demons' to make their living from the unwary. Now... now I'm not so certain.

"The local magic is so unstable that sending in an unwary Adept can get him torn apart the first time he tries to tap a ley line. And you can't allow in any woman who might be bearing a child with Mage-Gift. You'd be signing both of their death warrants. There are _no_ local mages. Not as we know them." Sejanes paused. "But there are hitokiri."

Kaoru loosened her fingers, a joint at a time. _I don't want to know. I don't want to hear this._ She steeled herself. _But I_ have _to._

"As you say, Kaoru-san, hitokiri means _manslayer_. They're warriors, first and foremost. Usually swordsmen. And on the battlefield, they can do things that are literally... magical. Fire from nowhere. Blows that slice through armor and bone in one clean cut. Healing impossible wounds. Information sped from hitokiri to spy and back again, with no trace of magical communication; as if their very thoughts reached out and touched." Sejanes arched wry brows. "Of course, the Empire thought it was all superstition. They had to be mages, cloaking their power in ways unknown to us. How else could one do such things?"

"Mind-Magic?" Eldan paled. "You're saying these _killers_ have Mind-Gifts?"

"Extremely strong ones, given Chief Tostig's report on Kurogasa's 'freezing terror' technique," Sejanes said bluntly. "Heralds have proven you can boost Gifts with magic. I can't see why the energy of the dying should be any exception."

"Gods." Eldan shot to his feet. "And he's staying in your dojo? Kero, we can't - we have to-"

"Stay put, Eldan." Crisp and sharp, the Captain's voice froze him in place. "On the battlefield, you said?"

"I was in Kyoto near the start of the Revolution," Sejanes nodded briskly. "I saw the aftermath of several attacks. Including no few on Imperial agents. They weren't tortured. They weren't played with. They were simply killed."

"They take the energy, but they don't commit blood sacrifice." Kerowyn gave Eldan a steady look.

"Don't they?" Eldan met her gaze. Turned to Kaoru. "'No', what? What was Himura about to do?"

 _No. Not Kenshin. I can't._

: _Chosen._ : Megumi's voice was painfully gentle. : _You have to tell them._ :

"He was going to kill Jin-e," Kaoru whispered.

Eldan shot Kerowyn a grim look.

"It wasn't like that!" Kaoru burst out, suddenly, unreasoningly angry. "You weren't there! You don't know!" _Focus. Focus!_ "Jin-e - he wanted a duel with the hitokiri from the Revolution..." _Damn you! You think you can judge? Judge this!_ Seizing them with her Gift, she poured out the memory of the night.

 _"In three cigarettes' time, I could_ kill _you."_

 _"Kenshin!" So much blood. Oh gods, I can't move, I can't Call-_

 _A sneer on a shadowed face. "How boring. We must have you become more enraged."_

 _A gleam of red - wild green eyes locked with her own-_

 _And everything stopped._

 _I can't breathe._

I can't breathe!

 _"Kaoru-dono!"_

 _Jin-e toyed with his blade, gloved fingers feeling Kenshin's blood. "I made it stronger than usual. Enough to stop her lungs."_

 _Fear, in the violet eyes that had been so hard. Grief, and dawning pain._

 _"She will last two minutes at most..."_

 _And the fight exploded._

"That's enough." Eldan stalked toward her.

"Stop right there." Kaoru glared. "You haven't seen _enough_ yet."

 _Sparks in her vision. Growing blackness, lightened only by the furious clash of swords. Surprise, when Jin-e rushed Kenshin - and_ leapt away, _unwilling to face that burning amber glare._

 _"If you do want to live, break the spell you put on Kaoru-dono."_

 _Jin-e's teeth gleamed in glee. "I can't. This is much stronger than the one I put on that pig, Tani. She must either break it herself, or my will must be completely shattered. Those are the only choices." He sneered. "Of course, for a Herald, whose mind has always leaned on the strength of her Companion, the former... is impossible."_

 _"Then..." Amber narrowed, hard and angry. "I will just kill you."_

Kaoru shuddered, blurring past those next few, vicious moments. They weren't important, only this was...

 _Breathless. Sweat coating her face. Lips tingling. So dark._

 _And still, a madman's taunting voice._

 _"Why do you hesitate? You must_ kill _me to break the spell. If you don't, the little girl dies. If you_ do, _she lives. It's the_ easiest _of choices._

 _"There's no reason to hesitate. You've no time for it._

 _"Your sakabatou. Put it here... a souvenir for the afterlife."_

 _"...Good point." Kenshin's voice was rough. Darker than night. "I've no wish to give gifts. But..._

 _"To save Kaoru-dono... I will become a hitokiri once again!"_

 _Fury crashed over her, hot and burning as a wave of molten gold._

 _ **"Die."**_

 _Kenshin!_

 _"...A sword is a weapon," Kenshin's voice whispered in her memory. "The art of swordsmanship is learning how to kill. She speaks as one who has never bloodied her hands. Kaoru-dono maintains a sweet, naive lie."_

 _A smile, as Kenshin strode fearless through the Hirumas' thugs, red-socked feet soundless on her dojo floor. Such a sweet, joyous smile, all and only for her._

 _"But in the face of such awful truth, the naive lie she tells is ever so much better. If this one had but one wish..."_

 _He hadn't killed then. He could have - she was a Herald, they were murderers - but he hadn't. He'd kept her dojo a place of life, not death._

 _But he wouldn't now. He'd kill, no matter what it cost him. Because of her. Because - he-_

 _"Kenshin! NO!"_

 _And there was air, and the roar of her own heartbeat in her ears... and somehow, even through that, she could hear the clink of a sword cast away._

Kaoru dragged in a breath, scrubbing at her eyes. _I'm not going to cry. I'm not..._

"Easy, now." Kerowyn's hand squeezed her shoulder gently. "It was a bad night. It's over." She looked past the younger Herald. "Blood sacrifice, hmm?"

"No." Eldan sighed. "I still don't like it."

"No reason you should." Sejanes stepped around the table. "Herald Kamiya. I know this is difficult. But could you show me the Shin no Ippou again?"

"I-" Kaoru swallowed. Nodded.

 _Inescapable eyes. Force, locking on her own soul like steel. Polished shells of iron, severing her will from her body-_

"Enough." Sejanes gripped the edge of the table to steady himself. "Amazing. You don't have Mage-Gift, and yet you sensed the energies of his spell. Of course, that could be due to the mental component..." With a frown, he set the thought aside. "Mirror shields, maintained from his own life-energies."

"I thought it might be something like that," Kerowyn said, satisfied. "My grandmother took out a host of Raschar Oathbreaker's mages that way in Rethwellan," she informed Eldan. "The only way you can break those is to build up enough force inside, find a friendly mage to break them from outside - or hunt down the mage who cast them."

Eldan sighed. Looked aside. "Selenay's already said we should be practical about this. As long as we can keep this away from the main Council, it should work out." He frowned. "She's still not going to like it, you know. Himura aside, Yamagata's been less than truthful with us."

Kaoru cleared her throat. "That," she said carefully, "doesn't have anything to do with magic."

* * *

Kerowyn drew in a deep breath of green scents, enjoying the easy walk through the hills and over the stream of Companions' Field. Kaoru had kept up a light chatter with Eldan about current events in Haven all the way, innocent glance apparently straying to flowers every minute or so, as if the young woman just happened to need to look at bright petals from every possible angle. _Ah, the sunshine's lovely today._

: _Lovely sunshine, my tail. You're just patting yourself on the back because Kaoru paid attention in counter-surveillance,_ : Sayvel said dryly.

 _With Himura on her hands, she's going to need it._ "I'd say we're clear," the ex-mercenary stated.

Kaoru's shoulders relaxed. "Good." She tensed again. "This is going to sound really, really stupid..."

"I lived with mercenaries for decades," Kerowyn pointed out. "People who put their lives on the line every day get strange. Sometimes even stupid. And your samurai were supposed to be ready to do that, yes?"

"I'm not sure where to start." Kaoru bit her lip. "I didn't just take Kenshin in out of warrior's compassion. I had a plan. Well, sort of a plan."

"Does this have to do with honor-debts?" Eldan put in. "It seems to be the key way Yamato handle social obligations," he added at Kero's glance. "Everyone owes someone a favor. And if you can't pay it back, your family owes it until it is returned. Chief Tostig told me he recently had to adjudicate a case in which a family's debt ledger was... borrowed."

 _Before someone decided to take it back the hard way_ , Kero thought, picking up Eldan's images of the blood and bruises. "And why haven't I heard about _this_ before?"

"You're not in the system, Kero-love," Eldan said plainly. "You don't owe anyone, and no one owes you. No Yamato's going to give a gaijin, who doesn't have _any_ idea what's proper, the opportunity to put them in their debt-" He stopped. Thought. Grinned. "Oh, that is clever."

"A master of a sword-school is expected to find ways to improve," Kaoru said simply. "Any sensei can take in a ronin or rurouni. It's a trade; a place to stay, for the chance to train with someone as good as you are. It's customary. It's tradition." She crossed her arms. "And it gets people talking to a _shihandai_ who just _won't_ talk to a Herald."

"They wouldn't?" Eldan frowned. "I thought you inherited your father's debts."

"'Tousan was relieved of most of his by Satsuma before he ever came to Valdemar," Kaoru said matter-of-factly. "Just like the rest of his companions. It's the only way they could come here, where they might _never_ be able to fill their obligations. And-" She looked aside. "I was raised here, in Valdemar. I'm a Herald. Someone who rides a white spirit-horse and dresses like I'm in mourning every day. I'm not expected to behave properly."

"Blue hakama," Kerowyn made the connection. Ever since she'd gotten out of Collegium, Kaoru had hardly ever worn full Whites. _Well, whatever gets another Herald out of the "shoot me now" uniform works for me._

"It's hard to be a Herald when you're scaring the children," Kaoru confirmed. "Gensai-isha's been trying to help since he got here, setting up the clinic. People will lean on his honor to talk to me - if they trust him enough. That works, but it's not a good fix. If we're going to have the clans as part of Valdemar, if we're ever going to break the yakuza, we need them to let the Guard handle crimes. We need them willing to talk to me. To us. To Heralds. And that's not going to be easy." She paced away. "This... is hard. It took me a while to put together. And I'm still not sure I have it all right." Kaoru wove her fingers together. "The way the clans think is, since the Jump went wrong and they landed in Haven instead of an empty spot, they owe us for not killing them. And they don't like it."

"Because we're gaijin," Eldan said neutrally.

"They wouldn't like owing other _Yamato_ a debt this big." Kaoru shifted her shoulders self-consciously. "We're strangers! And they owe us their lives, and their children's lives. How can they possibly pay that back?"

"They could try telling us the truth," Kerowyn grumbled.

"But they won't, because that might give us an opening to ask them to pay up," Eldan said shrewdly. "And given what we know about Yamato politics, and magic, they have to assume we might literally ask for their lives." Dark brows drew down. "So, in order to avoid incurring any more debt, they've been keeping their problems to themselves?"

Kaoru nodded. "So when I ran into Kenshin, I thought-" She flushed. "Well, first I thought he was Hiruma Gohei. Or - who Gohei was pretending to be..."

"Which he actually was," Kerowyn observed, tongue in cheek. "Imagine that."

"You wouldn't have!" Kaoru sputtered. "He just looked at me with that innocent _Oro,_ and his eyes bugged out, and he just jumped away from my swing and crash-landed in a pile of _barrels_ , for gods' sake..." She flung up her hands. "I swear, he looked harmless!"

Eldan raised interested brows. "Harmless?"

" _Completely_ harmless," Kaoru said grumpily. "Scooped me out of the blade's path before Gohei could slice me in two, let Megumi herd him back to the dojo carrying me, bandaged me up, let Ayame and Suzume crawl all over him and 'help' him make breakfast... all I thought he was, was some really lost rurouni who didn't want to fight." She rolled her eyes. "So I thought I'd offer him a place to stay. How much trouble could he be? Don't say I told you so, Megumi, you didn't know either..."

Kerowyn stifled a snicker. "And Yahiko?"

"He needs someplace," Kaoru said softly. "And if I'm going to make this work, I need a student." She smiled wryly. "I admit I was pretty surprised when Kenshin dropped him in my dojo and said 'stay', and I _wish_ the kid would stop calling me ugly, but - he's not a bad kid."

: _Definitely not,_ : Sayvel laughed. : _Just watch, Eldan. You want a samurai Chosen? Wait a few years, and you're going to get one._ :

: _That sure, are you?_ : Kerowyn kept her face neutral.

: _It's likely,_ : her Companion admitted. : _You know how Kaoru's wild Gift seems to react to other Gifts? Even in potential? Sanosuke's fairly sure Kenshin's got the same thing. Only his is stronger. And_ trained. _If he dropped Yahiko in Kaoru's lap, it means he thinks the youngster needs her kind of training._ :

Very interesting. : _Her training? Not his?_ :

: _Not his._ : Sayvel was firm. : _Hiten Mitsurugi - that's Kenshin's sword-school, according to Sanosuke - is what Yamato call_ satsujin-ken. _"Murderous sword technique."_ :

Kerowyn restrained a nod. : _A hitokiri style._ :

: _Sanosuke hasn't come out and said it, but probably. Nikaidou Heihou, Jin-e's style, definitely is._ :

And a nasty one, too. Trapping people so you could slaughter them at will, aware of the blade in a way even a cold-drake's victims weren't aware of the teeth to come. Anyone willing to support a man who could do that...

"So you've been hearing more of what goes on in the Yamato community," Eldan spoke up, taking his cue from Kerowyn's glance. "Do you have any idea who might have hired Jin-e?"

"Not yet." Kaoru's lips formed an uncharacteristically hard line. "It's a lot more complicated than we thought. Did you know that up until about halfway through the Revolution, Choshu and Satsuma were fighting each other?"

"Is that so." Kerowyn cracked her knuckles. Oh, for a few minutes with Yamagata.

: _Selenay wouldn't like that,_ : Sayvel warned.

: _Oh yes she would,_ : Kero shot back. : _She just couldn't_ officially _like it._ :

"At one point, Satsuma had some of their people around the Emperor. They hadn't really declared themselves against the Shogunate yet. Katsura wasn't in charge of all of Choshu then, and, well..." Kaoru shook her head. "They call it _Kinmon no hen_. Thousands, literally _thousands_ of Choshu soldiers attacked the Imperial palace, trying to kidnap the Emperor so Choshu would have a better bargaining position with the Shogun. Kenshin says the battle only lasted a few hours, but most of Kyoto went up in flames." She rolled her eyes. "It's like pulling teeth to get specific details out of Kenshin, but he... he says he wasn't there, he was away in the mountains. Only the amount of damage Choshu did, people wouldn't believe anyone else could have taken down the palace guards. A lot of Satsuma might have reason to come after him just for that."

The two older Heralds stared. Glanced at each other. Raised inquiring brows almost as one.

"We've been trading," Kaoru filled in. "Revolution history for Mindspeech lessons in Valdemaran, spoken and written, even if he does have to be meditating for me to reach him. You have no idea how nervous Kenshin is about being anywhere he can't read."

 _I think I can guess,_ Kerowyn thought. Between falling out in the Pelagirs and the wandering he'd done in Yamato before then, the man must have been perilously alone. _People lie. Books usually don't._ "Let me see if I've got this straight. The Ishin Shishi pulled together whole hordes of troublemakers under one banner, mostly grouped between two clans that hate each other's guts and only teamed up because it was that or let the Shogunate have both their collective hides as throw-rugs. They won, the Mage-Storms and the Chi'in broke up the party, the Seinan rebellion stomped on what was left, and we now have everybody who was fast and lucky enough to bolt before Saigo's hitokiri burned Edo and Kyoto down around their ears." She let out a long-suffering sigh. "Good luck picking out who hired Jin-e from _that_ mess, _ke'a'char_."

"Thanks," Eldan said wryly. He eyed Kaoru speculatively. "Though we might have more luck. If your Kenshin was willing to fill in other Heralds, and possibly some Guards, on recent Yamato history?"

"He's not _my_ Kenshin," Kaoru protested, cheeks pink.

: _She doesn't know?_ : Eldan asked Kerowyn privately.

: _Looks like. But_ he _does - I'd bet an in-foal Shin'a'in mare on that._ : The Herald-Captain flipped that fact over in her head, looking at all its painful angles. : _We have a very, very skittish young man here, love._ : How young, she still wasn't sure. Kenshin looked barely Kaoru's age, eighteen, but if he'd been fighting in the Revolution, he couldn't be much younger than thirty. : _I wonder-_ :

: _I'm not sure,_ : Sayvel stuck in.

: _What?_ :

: _If he's been bound like this before,_ : her Companion filled in. : _But he was very closely tied to someone; I've seen aura-scars like that. Once. Himura must have a very strong will; he's alive._ : A mental sigh. : _Which means right now, he probably doesn't know which way to jump. He says he doesn't want to be a hitokiri anymore. But if Kaoru is in danger - and Kaoru's a Herald, it's her_ duty _to be in danger - he's going to pick up any weapon he has to, to protect her._ :

: _And he's trained to kill._ : Kerowyn restrained her nod. There were reasons you didn't hire seasoned mercenaries as tavern bouncers. Push a trained warrior hard enough, and reflex took over. _And then you've got blood on the walls._

"And when I ask him about politics, he keeps telling me he doesn't know that much," Kaoru went on, politely ignoring the slight glaze Mindspeech lent to her fellow Heralds' eyes. "Hitokiri are tools for clan plots, they usually aren't plotting themselves. They work for clans. They're given targets. They guard. But they're not leaders."

: _Leave it,_ : Kerowyn advised Eldan. : _Until he figures out he can trust us, he won't talk anyway._ :

: _And I suppose you have some idea how to get him to trust us?_ :

: _As a matter of fact..._ : "Think you can drag your redhead through the Collegia gates sometime?"

Kaoru paused a second. "I think so. If Sanosuke helps. It's funny; ever since those two beat each other up, they've been thick as thieves."

"Men," Kerowyn said matter-of-factly.

"Hey!" Eldan planted his fists on his hips.

"Tell him that as one of your former teachers, I want to see exactly what tips he might be giving you on your sword technique," Kero went on. "He's a professional. We Heralds may not all _like_ his profession, but we can sure as hells respect it. I expect he knows dirty tricks, and I expect him to show both of us. Yamagata may have lied, he may have been fooled; either way, I am _not_ going to assume Jin-e's the only hitokiri who slipped through the cracks. There's no way this side of the Havens I'm going to shove away someone who knows things that might save our next crop of Trainees."

"That'll work," Kaoru said thoughtfully. "Sensei are supposed to look after their students, even after they're masters themselves." Blue eyes lost focus. "If you think you could help us out, Sano?"

: _Hmm?_ : Laughter flavored the Companion's Mindspeech. : _Oh, Jou-chan! You've_ got _to see this._ :

The odd, skewed perception of a Companion's gaze was fixed on two giggling little girls standing on either side of a washtub, "helping" Kenshin do the clinic and dojo laundry. Help that seemed to consist of bubbles flung here and there around the courtyard, and foam piled atop red hair into two wavy lumps of white. "Rabbit!" Ayame declared gleefully.

"He's a rabbit!" her younger sister Suzume echoed, losing her balance as she giggled.

Soapy hands caught her in an instant, setting the pig-tailed two-year-old gently upright. "A rabbit, hmm? And with such a tasty vegetable garden here, and no one to watch it..."

"Eek!"

"Uncle Ken-ni!"

Laundry dissolved into tag around the garden, Kenshin always a half-step ahead, until young breaths started to lag. Then red-socked feet suddenly seemed to tangle themselves, and the "rabbit" was buried in a pile of crowing children.

"Kenshin no baka," Kaoru sighed.

: _I think he needs this._ : Sano's voice still held a laugh, but there was an edge of sober thought under the glee. : _After last night, I know I do._ : A sense of a sigh. : _You want get him up there for sparring, hmm? I'm in. Just be careful, okay? Corner him and he'll run. And I like having him around._ :

One of the most dangerous swordsmen she'd seen in years, and he was collapsed on the grass under a tickle-assault, red hair streaked white with suds. Kerowyn had to chuckle herself. "Keep spending this much time with him, and people will start thinking the poor guy's one of our lost Trainees."

She expected a snort. A dry, half-cynical remark, at best. Eldan had been filling her in on Sanosuke's speckled years here in Haven, and she knew the scarred Companion was almost as rough a diamond as her Skybolt skirmishers.

She did _not_ expect a shy, wondering whisper.

: _...I think he's mine._ :

* * *

 _Collegium, hmm?_ Battousai took in the guards, the various defenses - or lack of same - they passed on their way to the training hall, and snorted in the back of Kenshin's mind. _Osaka Castle it isn't._

 _It's not meant to be_ , Kenshin told himself, trying to gentle his youkai blood back into sleep. His darker half had relaxed somewhat over the past day; cooking, playing with Ayame and Suzume, falling into the human rhythm of soap and water and laughter. And yet... and yet...

 _Sleep? When someone tried to kill my mate not two days ago? I don't_ think _so._

 _Kaoru-dono is not my mate!_

 _Yet_ , Battousai said smugly.

Kenshin kneaded his forehead as they walked past a small group of gray-clad Trainees at archery practice, feeling a headache threatening. And not just because the young Heralds-to-be had no more sense of how to shield their ki than new-hatched chicks did of how to fly. _She's human._

 _And? So? Your point?_

 _She's of Valdemar. She can't know how she - calls to me..._

 _She is_ samurai. _The same fire burns in her veins. All I have to do is wake it._

The rurouni bit back a curse. _No!_

 _My, my; there is a temper under all those manners, isn't there?_ Battousai snickered in the back of his mind. _A very youkai temper, I think._

True enough. The swords that sealed his blood only kept the demon from taking over. They didn't wipe away his own rage. And he _was_ angry. Terribly, terribly angry. Angry at Jin-e, dead as he was, for threatening Kaoru; angry at himself for not stopping the assassin before he could snatch the young Herald. And deeply, painfully angry at Yamagata for hiding so much from the land they now meant to call home.

 _If there is an accident - if some unknowing Guard or Herald separates a hanyou from their sealing sword-_

He knew his people. Knew their pride, their disdain for gaijin, their fierce, demonic tempers. It would not be _if_ , but _when._

 _And then there will be blood._

Yamato law would hold the hanyou blameless, no more at fault than a fire-cat dunked in ice water. Valdemaran... well. Who knew?

 _Kaoru knows her own people. She is trying to find the best way to guard both sides. We must not make her task any harder than it is._

He'd have to let his demon side loose a little, a very little, before his frustration roused the bloodlust. Maybe a hunt outside Haven. Rabbit would be tasty tonight. Or inside, if he were careful; roof-running soothed him, and rock dove was just hard enough to catch on the wing to make it interesting.

 _Either that, or we could track Kaoru down in the bath and-_

It wasn't physically possible to throttle the assassin in his head. Not that he hadn't been tempted to try. Kenshin half-curled his fingers, counting under his breath in Yamato, then Chi'in, then the tongue-twisting numbers of the Eastern Empire. At least he'd known that tongue before falling out in Rethwellan. While it was not the same, the Empire's speech had some things in common with both of those languages he'd met outside the Pelagirs...

"-Kenshin?"

"Hmm?" He blinked at Kaoru, granting her the rurouni's vague smile.

"I _asked_ you, what do you think?" She waved a hand at the walled grounds; tall, rambling buildings that were the Palace, the Bardic, Healers', Heralds and Mages' Collegia, and the tremendous sweep of hills and greenery that was Companions' Field.

"Anou... it's big, Kaoru-dono. Very big, that it is."

 _Give me two squads of Choshu skirmishers, and I could take it_ , Battousai snorted.

 _Sessha thinks it might take more than that_ , Kenshin thought dryly.

 _...Maybe_ , Battousai admitted grudgingly. _But get a houshi to shield against ForeSight, and we could flatten that stupid Palace. Royals included. Just look at it!_

 _I wish I could not._ Not when every glance catalogued another strength or weakness, shaved or added an option to the scenarios sketching themselves in his mind. This was a seat of foreign power, a raw affront to Yamato and youkai alike, and he could _see_ how to grind it into helpless dust.

 _This is the place of Kaoru's rulers, and nothing to do with me_ , Kenshin told himself forcefully. _We are the outlanders here. Yamagata has made peace with these people. It is enough._

"Big." Walking by Sanosuke, Yahiko gave him a cross-eyed look. "It's huge! There wasn't anything like this in Edo!"

 _'Cause nobody there was that stupid_ , Battousai grumbled. _One earthquake, and this whole place would be down around their ears- hello._

Reaching out with his ki sense, Kenshin tensed. Snatched Yahiko's yellow collar. And _moved._

 _Diving out of the sun-_

"Coming thrrrough!" Feathers and fur caroled through the space they'd occupied, a long red paper streamer snapping in the wind of their passage.

Thirty feet away, Kenshin set the startled boy down and watched the hawk-beaked creature swoop back into the sky, streamer flapping from his right foreleg, followed at a slightly higher altitude by a smaller sibling with a more tattered streamer of her own. Bodies the size of great cats, each with four strong paws, golden-brown feathers-

 _-And attitude_ , Battousai growled. _Don't forget attitude._

 _Sessha might say, look who's talking._

 _Heh! And we know why, don't we? I'm a predator, and we both know it. There's not a one of these white-wearing idealists I couldn't take down._ Pure, matter-of-fact pride rang through that thought, mingled with a breath of wistful hope.

Relaxing his grip on Yahiko's gi, Kenshin frowned. _Sessha's_ not _letting you out for a sparring match. Sessha's a civilized person, that I am. Sessha's not a hitokiri anymore!_

 _I'm not an_ assassin _anymore_ , Battousai thought, roughly gentle. _But_ hitokiri wa hitokiri. _We know that. We've known it since Hiko started teaching us._

"Whoa!" Yahiko shaded his eyes to peer up at soaring wings, grinning with delight. "Those are the gryphons? Kaoru?" He looked her way, where Megumi was pawing the ground with laid-back ears, and grumbled under his breath. "Great. _Busu's_ Mindspeaking again."

"-Oh no you don't!" Kaoru smacked a fist into her palm, quick anger coloring her cheeks. "Jerven thinks I don't know the difference between war-training and wing-tag," she filled in at Kenshin's questioning look. "He knows he's supposed to keep to his own training area, or stay over twenty feet, like Lytha is! Like he didn't _notice_ the archery range?"

"I'll take it from here." Kerowyn stalked out into the sunlight, frowning into the sky. Arched a brow. Glared upward.

"One knows the Gifted were not always trusted in Edo, but you should give your teacher's skills more respect," Kenshin told the youngster in an undertone. Inwardly he held himself still. Kerowyn was blazing her ken-ki to the skies, all fury and impatience. He was glad _he_ wasn't on the receiving end of her Mindspeech.

"Huh!" Yahiko scowled. " _Real_ samurai don't read people's minds to figure out what they'll do in a fight!"

"Nor does Kaoru, that she does not," Kenshin said firmly. "A trained fighter does not _think_ of what he will do, Yahiko. He simply sees, and senses his opponent's ki, and moves. No Mindspeaker could read that in time." Kenshin lifted a red brow to hold the boy's attention before it could stray from embarrassment. "Toba Fushimi went to the Revolution's side in part because Saigo and Yamagata knew how to use Mindspeakers to best effect - to gauge the battle, spread deception, and keep the generals' orders flowing. There may come a time when your battle depends on such tactics, and you must know what they can and cannot do."

"Spread deception?" Kaoru's blue eyes were wide. "You can't lie mind to mind!"

"But you _can_ lie to the Mindspeaker, Kaoru-dono," Kenshin informed her, smiling wryly. "The generals had codes, discussed in private before the fray. They knew which messages were to be taken as true, and which false."

"That is... really sneaky," the young Herald said faintly. "I'm sorry. I'm just not used to the idea of the bad guys having Gifts like everyone else."

Yahiko's fists clenched on his shinai. "My father was an honorable samurai!"

"This she knows," Kenshin said, placing a firm hand on the boy's tense shoulder. "There were good and evil on both sides, Shogunate and Ishin Shishi alike. There were many like the Myojins, who declared the rebellion a dishonorable revolt against the rightful leaders. There were as many in Choshu, who swore the Shogunate's vows were dead and dust unless they yielded to the true emperor. We all fought with our ideals riding on our blades." He smiled gently. "And now we are here."

"And dodging damn idiot teenagers who still haven't learned about not being conspicuous," Kerowyn growled. "Going to have to _talk_ to Treyvan and Hydona... get in here, Himura."

He followed the Herald-Captain inside, all too aware of Yahiko's snickers behind him and Kaoru's hand ready to grab him if he even _looked_ like turning around. Not that she truly could, if he wished to escape. But perhaps it was better not to remind her of that yet. _This is... very unlike a dojo._

Oh, some elements of the vacant salle were the same; the sanded floor, the racks of wooden swords, the scent of sweat, leather, and leather oil, drifting from the Valdemaran's odd padded practice armor hanging on the wall. But no Yamato dojo would have those clerestory windows above the mirrored wall. Much less the mirrors themselves.

 _Silvered glass_ , Kenshin thought, ghosting over to tap one. "In Yamato, Kerowyn-dono, this would be an unacceptable hazard."

"Really?" Kerowyn raised a blonde brow at him, tightening straps on her leather armor.

"Earthquakes." Kenshin shuddered, all too able to picture shards of flying glass.

"Now those, I still find hard to believe," Kerowyn admitted, picking up a weighted wooden sword. "I've felt the earth shake once or twice, and a few of my Skybolts have told me about places where that happens every year - but a land where the ground actually opens up and tries to swallow you? Without any mage behind it?" Aquamarine eyes narrowed at Kaoru. "And I thought you were going to make him bring armor."

"According to my father, it can," Kaoru nodded. "And... well... he did."

Kenshin set down his travel bag, taking out the leather arm-guards Hiko had given him so many years before. He'd had to replace the outer, disguising layer of ordinary leather more than once, but the true armor beneath it, crafted of youkai dragon-hide, would likely last his lifetime.

"That's it." Kerowyn's tone held frank disbelief.

Kenshin inclined his head.

"That's _all?_ "

"This one's style does not lend itself well to armor, Kerowyn-dono. The less weight, the better." He cinched the guards into place, feeling the hitokiri's mindset rise closer to the surface. _Sparring. We're only sparring._ "And these appear little different from the guards of arm and hand any peasant would wear to work the fields. Scythe to reap or sword to block; in Yamato, both peasant and samurai have need of shields against their own blades. If pressed, a lone warrior simply needed to abandon the blue _haori_ of his uniform, and no Shogunate soldier could be certain they had snared one of Choshu."

"So you're a skirmisher first. Good to know," Kerowyn murmured. Shrugged her shoulders. "Well, when you walk away from this with bruises, don't come crying to me."

Selecting a bokken, Kenshin arched a red brow.

"We may be pulling punches, but this is full-contact," Kerowyn said dryly, settling her shield into place on her arm.

"Aa," Kenshin observed neutrally. Behind him, he heard Yahiko snicker, and Kaoru hush the boy. He could feel the heat of her blush through her ki, along with threads of concern for both of them.

"You're a lunatic-"

 _Overhand swing. Left. Shield rush-_

Kenshin ducked, dodged, and stepped aside, wondering when the true attack would begin. "Captain, if you wish it-"

 _Thrust. Shield again._

"-we could simply call our blows-"

 _Side slash. Whirling now - does she truly think I'm still there?_

"-you do not need to project them as well."

Kerowyn stared a blink longer at the empty space in front of her. Turned to look him in the eye. " _Call_ our blows? This isn't one of Kamiya's kenjutsu lessons, Himura!"

"So you said," Kenshin admitted. "But if that is so - you are a master, Kerowyn-dono. Why do you allow your movements to show clearly in your ki?"

Kaoru gasped. "You're using ki sense? But - how-"

"How?" Kenshin slid a step back, easing his stance as he saw Kerowyn lower her blade. "I knew I had not seen you instruct Yahiko on ki sense, Kaoru-dono, but not every style trains it directly... intent. The flow of energies. It is clear around her, as it is with most gaijin. It is as if none of them know how to be a teardrop in water, a whisper in the wind..."

"Blending energies into the background? You're shielding?" Kerowyn frowned. "I know Empaths. Even strong ones, like Talia, can't predict what a fighter's going to do. And if you're shielding your Empathy, how can you use it to tell what I'm about to do?"

Kenshin blinked, taken aback. "Ki sense is not Empathy, Kerowyn-dono. Sessha's _not_ a miko. I do not See the future, nor do I Feel the hearts of others. I sense ki. As Kaoru does, as Yahiko has begun to do, as any samurai can. It is born in us, in all of those whose heritage is of Yamato." _Whose heritage is... gods. Our kin wander where and when they will. Did they never wander here?_

He let his lips part slightly, tasting the scents in the air. Kitsune powers were more rooted in spirit than flesh; while his ki sense could outstrip the wind, his sense of smell was nowhere near that boasted by an inu or yama-inu-hanyou. Still, he should be able to detect _something_.

 _Leather. Steel. Horse-that-is-not-horse; Companion. A ningen samurai cub. A samurai female, also ningen. My own scent, tingling like flame. Older scents, of children and adults, all gaijin. As Kerowyn's is gaijin._

Gaijin. Outlander. The same as the folk he'd walked among since he'd left the Pelagirs; ningen who were bewilderingly cold, and rude, and seemingly blind to energies the youngest babe of his land would flinch from.

 _Kami. Heralds are_ Gifted. _And yet they are not-_ Kenshin buried the shock. Later. Later he would take this revelation out to study, when he could afford all its numbing horror. For now - a swordswoman wished an explanation.

 _A very delicate explanation._

"It is a sense of-" Kenshin hunted for the right words, "Life's energies. The quiet glow of calm, the brightness that is a child, the focused fire of sword-skill. Gifts are a searing edge to those energies, like sun through a burning lens. A Gift makes one very - bright. Very loud. Very visible." He tilted his head. "Unless one learns to master what of one's ki radiates into the world, one might as well be wearing white in broad daylight."

"'Tousan said it was being rude," Kaoru put in from the sidelines, puzzled. "I don't know why. I took Courtly Graces, just like everybody, and there's nothing in there about keeping your ki sheathed."

"Is _that_ all he said?" Yahiko snorted. "Gaijin never know when they're asking for a fight."

"Drawn ki, a drawn blade," Kenshin nodded. "To Yamato, they are much the same."

Aquamarine regarded him steadily. "And what happens when you draw your ki, Himura?"

 _She's asking for it_ , Battousai pointed out.

 _Aa, she is._ Letting his bangs fall forward to hide his eyes, Kenshin loosened some of the tight discipline that held his ki soft and quiet as falling rain. Let it stretch, let it _flare_ -

 _This is who I am._

Battousai moved forward as he took up a ready stance, patient and waiting. As he had stood when Jin-e rushed him, at the last; as he had stood so many rain-swept nights in Kyoto, staring down Shinsengumi who meant to fight past him to the Ishin Shishi.

 _Go back the way you came, or die._

"K-Kenshin..." Yahiko's teeth chattered.

 _The boy. And Kaoru_. Kenshin pushed his darker self down once more, face set. " _Gomen_. Forgive... forgive this unworthy one. There is no threat here, no need..."

Sweating, Kerowyn held up a hand for silence. Walked over to the wall, setting her wooden blade back into its place on the rack. Stood there a moment, clearly thinking.

 _She's good_ , Battousai chuckled. _Let me play with her._

 _Sessha doesn't think that would be wise,_ Kenshin thought warily.

"Himura," the Weaponsmaster said flatly. Lifted a true sword, sunlight gleaming off sharpened steel. "Don't kill me."

 _Death-intent!_

As his feet left the ground, Kenshin was struck by the sudden, awful realization that Kaoru truly loved her bokkens.

Oh well.

 _"Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu - Ryuu Tsui Sen!"_

Wood shattered.

Kenshin touched down amid flying splinters, left hand closing on air - and then, with a flex of will, the saya of his sakabatou. If the Herald-Captain was still standing, she wasn't going to be very happy.

The leather-clad woman blinked. Wavered. "Ughhh..."

"Kaoru-dono." Kenshin kept an eye on the wobbling Weaponsmaster. "It would be wise to summon a Healer now, that it would."

" _Sheka_..."

"Right," Kaoru said breathlessly, clamping her hand on Yahiko's shoulder when he might have run toward the Captain. "Let Kenshin handle this."

"But Kaoru-!"

"Remember what Sanosuke told you? Sometimes he can't help but kick. This is like that."

Leaving Yahiko to his teacher's tender mercies, Kenshin caught the Captain as her knees gave. "Forgive, Kerowyn-dono. This one knows this probably isn't what you had in mind."

"Yes and no... what the hells did you hit me with? _Nobody_ moves that fast." Kerowyn's pain-filled gaze stared at the splinters, puzzlement clearing into sudden, dazed comprehension. "Fetching. You were Fetching!"

"It's rather hard on practice blades, that it is," Kenshin admitted. "Sessha's shishou never even bothered with them. Steel it was, from the first day. Sessha hadn't used a bokken until lodging with Kaoru-dono." He glanced over shards of wood. "Perhaps this one should stick with the sakabatou. Bokkens appear to be messy."

Kerowyn hissed as he helped her to a bench. "You can Fetch yourself. Like a Firecat. In the middle of a fight?"

"Sessha cannot _Jump_ as they do," Kenshin corrected. "That takes more strength than a fighter can spare. But yes, this one can Fetch. There is only so much speed and strength a human body can bring to a fight." Or even a hanyou body. Most of their legendary resilience was due to the energy flowing through them, not any inherent difference in flesh and bone. Block that energy, as his had once been blocked, and they were mortal as any _ningen_. "Fetching allows this one to increase both..."

The limp weight in his arms told him the Weaponsmaster was no longer listening.

"Sanosuke was still standing after that strike," Yahiko said wryly. "I guess Companions are a little tougher than Heralds."

: _And don't you forget it!_ : Sano snickered from outside.

Kenshin sighed. Met Kaoru's disbelieving eyes. "Sessha's going to be in trouble for this, _ne?_ "

* * *

"I'm going to hunt down that redheaded shrimp and string him up by his toes..."

"I asked for it, Eldan." Wincing at the phantom ache in her collarbone, Kerowyn felt carefully along the Healed flesh. Good to be back in their own quarters; here, she could let herself ache, without putting on the Fire-Mare mask for awestruck students. "There are some things you can't see through another Herald's eyes. I had to see him fight. Even if he was pulling the blows."

"Blows?" Eldan said pointedly. But took her pointed glance, and found himself a chair.

"Next time I'll have a better idea how to handle him," the ex-mercenary said confidently. "Preferably involving a flight of arrows or a bunch of hefty guys with maces. Closing sword-to-sword with that man is an extremely _bad_ idea."

Eldan crossed his arms over his lap. "Always looking for a new Weaponsmaster, hmm?"

"Himura? Weaponsmaster? Not a chance." Kero laughed. "It'd be like asking Warrl to take over as MindSpeech instructor here. Heraldic Circle or Companions - you wouldn't stand for it. When you strip Himura's style bare, he's not fighting with steel. He fights with his _Gifts_." She shifted her shoulder in a casual shrug, absently checking for any residual twinge of unHealed muscle. "Oh, he could probably show anyone the basics of Yamato sword-fighting. And he knows enough down-and-dirty frontline fighting to give Kaoru a good grounding in that, too. But when it comes down to the wire, he's _hitokiri_." She stared into the distance. "Which is why I'd like to know just why you think he's _yours_ , Sanosuke."

A mental sigh brushed them. : _You know I went out on Search once?_ :

"A false alarm," Eldan stated.

: _I thought it was. Gods, I_ hoped _it was. Because if it wasn't, I just... didn't get there... in time..._ :

* * *

Cold, cold; cold and snow and air so mountain-thin it ached in his lungs, how in the Havens had he gotten from that weird blank spot in the Pelagirs to here? Wherever the hells here was...

 _A fire-blast!_

Sano slogged his way through the snowy pines toward the noise, reaching out with his senses for any trace of his Chosen. He could still feel the Call, the youngster had to be here. Somewhere.

Nothing. Just blank, empty _nothing_ where the feeling of life should have been. If his nose and eyes and ears didn't swear he was in a living forest, he'd have thought he was walking over lifeless rock.

 _So_ think, _oh great and wise Companion. He's a Chosen, right? Where else is he going to be but up to his ears in trouble?_

Right. Toward the big boom it was.

 _Make that big booms_. Sano flattened his ears at the concussion of air, stopping cold at the scent of fire-powder and blood. Here... the first blast site. A bloodstained metal dart lay half-buried in disturbed snow, and a thin red trail led to and from the muddle of footprints and torn branches. Someone was hurt. Badly.

And from the fragments of flesh and blades scattered through here, at least one someone was dead.

 _One set of footprints, leading off toward that second blast. Small. A woman, or a young man. And blood. Oh gods, blood..._

Sano charged off toward the second blast, not thinking, not caring what sort of hopeless battle his Chosen had gotten mixed up in. Once he had the kid on his back, they were getting out of here.

 _Two more bodies. Bigger pieces - ugh. Deep breath, and look again. Bloodstain around one neat stab to the chest on the big guy; sword-wound. Don't recognize the clothing. Dark cotton shirts that wrap around, some kind of weird leather guards for the backs of their hands... they were armed, that's all that matters. The big one with an axe, his partner with - gods, are those metal claws?_

Razor-edged metal, long as his muzzle. Stained with blood.

 _Not a random attack,_ Sano realized, tasting a scent all too like the Artificers' blasting powder. _This was an ambush._

A two-layered ambush. Armed men and deadly blasts... for an already-wounded young one with only a sword.

 _If there's two layers, there's going to be three-_

 _Found the trail. Lost it. Found it... damn, how much blood has he lost? How can anyone bleed like this and still be moving?_

 _Why can't I feel him?_

Sano cursed the snow, and the rotten, rock-and-tree terrain, and whatever was making this forest a blank spot in the energies of the world. If it weren't for the steady presence of the Call, he'd think he was going mad...

And then he knew he was, as wide dark eyes stared up at him; a young boy he'd almost stepped on, backed up against a pine tree with an odd purple umbrella in his arms. _Could it be you?_ Sano reached out-

 _:Hate - rage - want my sister back - assassin - traitor! - he dies today...:_

Sano backed off, snorting, fighting the impulse to kick this child clear across ten leagues of snow. There was something painfully _wrong_ with this boy.

 _But I can't get him to a MindHealer now. And if any of that was true- there!_

 _Oh, gods..._

A small redhead in bloodied dark blue and gray was slashing at air, trying to connect with an older, gray-haired man in an odd sleeveless shadow-gray tunic and leggings. The older man would step in, strike, watch the redhead go down and wait like a cruel cat for his prey to stagger up again. Prey that was bleeding from eyes and ears, balance as sickeningly off as a Herald struck by a lightning bolt.

 _He can't see. I'm not even sure he can hear. How the hell is he fighting-?_

A hammer-blow of interlocked fists, and the redhead went down.

 _Hells with it! I've got to get down there-!_

: _Oh, I think_ not.:

Webbing curled out of the trees about Sanosuke, seizing him in a net of gray silk and pine branches. Dark-furred legs appeared where he would have sworn there were only shadows, spider eyes gleaming uncanny red from an impossibly huge form. : _Let me_ go!: the Companion squealed.

: _And ruin this fun?_ : Fangs gleamed. : _It's not every day we get to watch a half-breed die..._ :

Steel flashed in the older man's hand, just as the redhead screamed out a desperate battle cry and swung-

Blue-wrapped white silk lunged between them-

Blind eyes widened-

And three bodies fell together.

"Tomoe, _iie_..."

The dark-haired young woman stirred, knife clasped in her whole left hand. Fought death just a minute more, bringing the knife up to the bleeding slash on the redhead's cheek, crossing it with her own cut. Pouring in will and hope and determination so bright Sano could feel it even through the bleakness.

: _...Live, anata..._ :

Her mind snuffed out, and Sano Felt the wail of a soul left howling into emptiness. Felt Mindspeech rip and shred itself, trying to touch what was no longer there. : _No!_ : He thrashed against the net. : _Don't do that! Look over here! Damn it, you young fool - look over here-_ :

: _He can't_ hear _you,_ : the spider-creature sing-songed. : _I won't let him._ :

: _Bastard!_ : Sano bared his teeth, biting at silk that was somehow strong as steel.

: _Bastard? I think not. I am chuugumo. Your little assassin, now - he's the only bastard here._ : The spider snickered. : _I could hunt down the little half-breed. He'd be such an easy kill. But I'd have to let you go to do that, wouldn't I, spirit-made-flesh?_ : A long tongue licked at Sano's leg. : _And you taste like_ so _much more fun..._ :

The world twisted into nightmare, and he knew nothing more.

* * *

: _The MindHealers blocked out a lot of the rest of it,_ : Sanosuke finished. : _That - creature - fed on despair. And I could give it a lot, because I lost him..._ : Kerowyn felt the Companion shudder. : _But after several months, it got careless. I broke out while it was sleeping, lurched my way back to the blank spot and Jumped. I don't think I even cared if I made it back alive. Almost didn't. Wandered around in the Pelagirs a while, finally got my head together enough to stumble back toward Valdemar, and - that's it._ :

"What in the hells was that thing?" Eldan demanded.

: _Probably some kind of Change-spider, according to Megumi,_ : Sayvel filled in. : _They're at least as common in Yamato as firebirds are here. Think_ wyrsa- _nasty. Then think bigger_ and _more intelligent. Sano's damn lucky to be alive._ :

Kero whistled. "And them without mages. No wonder those poor bastards came up with hitokiri." She looked at her hands - hands that had so often held a bloody blade. _If I were going to kill a man anyway, and I knew things like that were out there, and there was nothing_ but _me to stand between them and my people..._

: _Don't think about it,_ : Sayvel advised. : _So. You think it's him, too._ :

"Redhead, cross-shaped scar, fights like a demon," Eldan ticked off. "And the age seems about right. Still, red hair usually gets darker with age, not lighter. And if he could sense the man's ki-"

: _There wasn't any there to sense!_ : Sano growled. : _It was a trap; a trap for anything that could sense energies! I told you - I could feel the Call, but I couldn't feel him!_ :

Eldan's eyes widened. "You mean, ki is-"

"Life-energy," Kero nodded. "What hitokiri use. What Companions live in, just by existing."

Eldan gulped, still stunned. "They use it to run, and to feed to us when we need it, and to home in on when they're Searching..."

: _And_ Heralds _never learn how to shield it,_ : Sayvel finished. : _Herald-Mages do - they have to, or they're demon-bait - but that training comes long after they're Chosen._ :

"And you don't Choose Healers," Kero added under her breath. She'd spent some time MindSpeaking Alberich after Healer Gensai's little bombshell. He'd had quite an interesting story about another armed Healer; MindHealer Crathach, who'd gone with King Sendar to the final battle of Tedrel Wars. As one of the king's bodyguards.

"Crossed him, I would not have," Alberich had said. "A two-handed fighter with knives who to _me_ a trick or two did show. Very angry at Tedrels, he was. Doubt he could kill, _I_ did not."

"But if you really think he's yours, still, after all this time-" Eldan spread his hands.

Sano was painfully silent.

"Think, love," Kero said gently. "If a Companion can't touch your energies, they can't bond. And except for _very_ brief moments, Kenshin always keeps his ki shielded."

Eldan eyed his partner. "So what do we do?"

* * *

 _Cantrip_ \- a "low-level" spell, beginner's magic.

 _Shinai_ \- bamboo practice sword.

 _Houshi_ \- monk.

 _Kitsune_ \- fox, fox-spirit.

 _Inu_ \- dog.

 _Yama-inu_ \- "Mountain Dog", wolf.

 _Shihandai_ \- assistant master of a sword-school.

 _Ryuu Tsui Sen_ \- Dragon Hammer Strike.


	4. Chapter 4

"One thinks," Kenshin said mildly, scarf about his neck, Kaoru's grocery list tucked into his sleeve and pole with buckets slung over his shoulder, "a Companion must have better things to do than to follow this one about, that you do."

A horse-shaped patch of whiteness detached itself from the blaze of sunlight it'd been trying to hide in. : _Nope._ :

"Sano." Kenshin kept walking, trying to ignore the chime of silver hooves behind him. It was harder to ignore the odd looks from passers-by; worried and uneasy from Yamato, puzzled - and sometimes, oddly enough, _amused_ \- from the Valdemarans in this part of town. "You are making this one obvious."

: _And the pink gi doesn't?_ :

"It's not pink."

: _Sure, sure..._ :

 _Just one thump_ , Battousai pleaded. _Just one? We know his head can take it._

 _No_ , Kenshin thought, once again. _I will not harm him simply because he is... annoying._

Though that was a mild way to describe how the Companion's constant presence had grated on his nerves these past few days. In the dojo, in the streets; waking, sleeping, even when he was trying to meditate - Sano was just constantly _there_. A bright blaze of ki amongst quieter humans; spiritual brightness, like a miko's, that ningen turned toward like flowers seeking sun.

It was sending the youkai side of him into snarling fits.

 _Tearing firewood apart - not enough. I need to slip him. Just for a little while. I need..._

 _To hunt._

Thought and action blended as he rounded a corner; Kenshin leapt, buckets and all, touching down on a two-story roof.

: _Hey! What - where-_ :

Eyes closed, Kenshin pictured one of the most silent kata he knew; not of Hiten Mitsurugi, but one he'd picked up amongst the Ishin Shishi. Meant for a guard, in the night, who could see nothing yet suspected something was very much there.

 _Darkness. Silence. Move forward and right into low stance, soundless, blade sheathed; tap the end of the saya against the ground to draw your enemy there. Soundless back, battou-jutsu stance, and_ strike-

: _Yeow!_ :

Mind still wrapped in shadow, Kenshin fled over the rooftops, buckets gripped so they would not jangle. Sano should be stung, not harmed, by his swift blow of ki; all he wanted was _away_.

 _Running. Let me loose. Let me hunt!_

 _...Yes._

He felt the shift in himself; the stretch of claws, the snarl of fangs, the blaze of eyes from violet to pure amber. The setting-aside of muddled human considerations of _friend_ and _polite_ and _harmless_ to the clearer, bloodier view of the youkai. Of the assassin.

 _Protect your allies. Slay your enemies. Move as you will, where you will - and destroy anything that stands in your way._

It was so much simpler to be Battousai.

 _But I don't_ want _to hurt anyone..._

He stopped for a moment near a tangle of chimneys, thinking that over even as he side-stepped the main drift of smoke. The wanderer had bolted because he didn't want to hurt Sano; because he could feel his youkai blood gnawing at him, and didn't want to risk attacking the spirit-horse if - when - he had to let it run free.

 _But I don't want to attack him_ , Battousai realized, surprised. _I just wanted some quiet._

Oh, he might have slapped that tender pink nose. Even drawn blood, perhaps. The youkai in him was disciplined, but not patient; and assassins _did not like_ being made obvious.

 _Yet I don't want to hurt him. I don't really want to hurt anyone._

Amazing. And... odd.

 _None of mine are hurt. None are in danger. No one expects me to draw a blade in anger._

He'd forgotten the world could be this peaceful.

A quiet smile touched his lips. Battousai set down the buckets, then stretched in the sun like a cat, sunlight flashing off yawning fangs. He was loose, well-fed, unobserved, and under no constraints but to bring back Kaoru's shopping in time to make the evening meal.

A flutter of wings reached his ears, and amber gleamed. _And I think dinner tonight will be... dove._

Claws sheathed, he crept after his prey.

* * *

 _Ow. Ow. Ow..._ Sano shook his ringing head, wincing as a clumsy shopper dropped a pot in a clang of steel. That swift _smack_ of Kenshin's energies against his - yow. _Feels like I ended up on the wrong end of Kaoru's bokken._

: _Are you all right?_ : Megumi asked.

: _Just sore,_ : Sano answered sheepishly, moving out of the way of a team of chestnut geldings drawing a cart of cloth bolts. Right now he was doing his best to pass as "horse, ordinary, not worth paying attention to". No matter how much his head hurt. : _I think I've pushed it past "Companion, treat with kid gloves", through "odd friendly acquaintance", and into "annoying horse-shaped idiot"._ :

: _You really think irritating him will work?_ :

: _Best plan we've got so far,_ : Sano shrugged. : _Either he'll get used to me and relax his guard the way Yamato do with family, or he'll get ticked as hell and draw his ki all the way so he can thump me a good one._ :

: _Or he'll bounce blunt steel off your skull again,_ : Megumi pointed out dryly. : _One fight on the riverbank wasn't enough?_ :

: _Hey, I didn't say it was perfect._ : But his ears flicked back guiltily. : _How's Kaoru holding up?_ :

: _I've managed to siphon off a lot of that... fury, before it dragged us both in._ : Megumi's shudder echoed through her Mindspeech. : _It makes us both cranky, but we haven't killed Yahiko. Yet. Kenshin's calmed down, though. For now._ : Unease rippled through her thoughts.

: _He's calmed down?_ : If Sano'd had eyebrows, he would have raised them. He couldn't read Kenshin's feelings; the ex-hitokiri had too much control to leak anything. Which meant the only window they had into what was going on in Himura's head was the subtle pulse of emotions filtering through Kaoru. Emotions she'd finally agreed to pretend to be clueless about, once they'd explained their evil scheme - ahem, well thought-out and reasonable plan. So far as they could tell, Kenshin had handled his very real fear of being attacked (by his enemies) or disposed of (by his supposed allies) by diligent efforts to look utterly, entirely, _ridiculously_ harmless.

A harmless facade Kaoru could now see through like a pane of stained glass, sensing what that clueless smile hid: a mind as tactically aware as any Weaponsmaster, that could never - quite - stop calculating how to kill.

Though he came close. With the children, surrounded by a quiet garden... he came close.

Still, if Kenshin had any idea Kaoru could feel him as easily as he felt her...

 _He'd bolt_ , Sano knew. _Probably wouldn't stop until he hit Lake Evendim. If then._

No. Painful as it was for Kaoru, painful as it had to be for Kenshin, they had to pretend the bond wasn't important. Until and unless they could convince the man he was _safe_ , he'd never let someone endanger themselves by loving him.

 _Gods, if I could only drag him to a MindHealer..._ : _Megumi?_ :

: _Kaoru thinks he's - hunting._ :

That jerked Sano to a stop, no matter the crowd. : _Hunting? Who? Where?_ :

: _She says, "What, not who, baka". Something about- um. Ugh._ : Another ripple. : _Apparently, hanyou like to kill their own food._ :

If he'd been human, Sano would have screwed up his face, puzzled. : _Hanyou?_ :

: _It's a... Gift, I'd guess we'd call it... that shows up in some Yamato._ : Megumi's embarrassment touched him. : _I've been asked not to talk about it. I know Caryo and Rolan know, they have to, but the Crown wants it kept quiet for now. It's - political._ :

Politics. Yuck. Okay, so Kenshin was a hunter, no big deal...

: _Sano._ : Megumi's mind-voice was uncharacteristically sober. : _Are you_ sure _you want him? Really sure? I know you don't feel the Call anymore..._ :

Sano rolled his eyes. : _No, Fox-lady, I'm just following an idiot ex-hitokiri over half of Haven because I don't have anything better to do with my spare time!_ : He caught his breath. : _I don't know what I feel. Those shields of his, that discipline that makes his energies just slip past like shadow... the Call could be ringing in both our heads, and I'd never know._

: _But he's my friend._ :

Megumi sighed. : _Hanyou like to hunt with their claws._ :

Blink. Blink.

: _Still in one piece?_ : Megumi asked wryly.

: _Not sure,_ : Sano shot back. : _I had this funny dream where you said Kenshin had claws-_ :

: _He does._ :

: _Wha-? How-?_ : Damn it, that couldn't be possible! Heck, he'd been punched by the guy; he should know if Kenshin had anything... but... fingernails...

Punched. Meaning Kenshin had his fingers balled up, nails out of sight.

 _I've seen him grip a sword. Meaning I'm looking at the steel. I've seen him up to his elbows in laundry - his fingers always come up in clothes or suds. I've seen him taking care of kids, or cooking, or any of a hundred other little things. I've_ never _gotten a good look at his hands._

: _I don't know how, really,_ : Megumi admitted. : _It's just how some Yamato are born._ : Sano felt her shrug. : _Gensai says a lot of Edoko don't like hanyou, but at least they know they're not Changechildren. Kenshin found out the hard way people in Rethwellan don't. So he's been very careful when he hunts here. Which is probably why he decided to lose you. Wouldn't want a Companion to see him with his fingers bloody._ :

Urk. O...kay. Um. Right. : _And this is normal?_ : Sano couldn't help but ask.

: _Kaoru says he might... oh, ugh... make that probably_ will _eat the heart and liver before he brings it back._ :

Sano snorted. : _Sure, right. And cook it where?_ :

Silence.

: _Megumi... he_ is _going to cook it first, right?_ :

: _She says, probably not. Hanyou don't catch parasites the way ningen do-_ : A jolt of surprise. : _Oh!_ :

Sano reached out to Megumi, feeling the hot pulse of satisfaction echoing from Kaoru's bond. Primal, predatory; fierce and gleeful as a gryphon, standing over the snapped neck of its prey.

: _Oh Havens. Oh, I think I want to throw up now..._ :

: _Deep breaths,_ : Sano reminded her. : _At least you're just getting some emotional backwash. If they were BeSpeaking each other, we'd probably feel him chewing._ :

: _You..._ sadist...: He felt Megumi pull away, mentally gagging.

 _Oops._ Sighing, Sano walked back into the throng. _If_ Kenshin hadn't gone too far, and _if_ he'd made the kill as Kaoru said, and _if_ he was enough in control of himself not to want to appear gruesome in public...

Yeah. There, rinsing hands and face at one of Haven's many public fountains. A small, redheaded figure in magenta gi and off-white hakama, buckets and pole by his side with a trio of gutted feathery bundles on top. : _Did you-_ : Sanosuke hesitated. : _Get what you needed?_ :

Violet eyes slid toward him. Pale cheeks flushed. _"Hai."_

: _I-_ : Sano took his own advice, and breathed deep. The faint scent of blood didn't help. : _I don't understand. Megumi said - you're hanyou?_ :

Violet widened. Muscles tensed.

: _No, wait!_ : Sano lowered his head, trying to look as harmless and pleading as a warhorse-muscled Companion could. : _Please. Kenshin, you're my friend. And if I can deal with humans and gryphons and that fanged fluff-ball of a Firecat Altra... you hunt. You eat what you kill. It's all right._ :

"It is... how this one hunts that many find distressing," Kenshin said softly.

: _Knife. Claws._ : Sano forced a shrug. : _Same thing, pretty much._ : He couldn't help but project a little unease. : _Though it's sure as hells not like any Gift I ever heard of!_ :

"It is part of our heritage, those such as this one," Kenshin said reluctantly. "Part of the price, for making our peace with a land of such terrible magic. There are instincts within, that rise when one is - emotional. They are not fully human." He shrugged. "We are taught to deal with them."

Gingerly, Sano stepped closer. : _You've been like this all your life?_ :

"...No," Kenshin admitted. "At birth, hanyou are much as other Yamato. Though some of us are obvious. Still, it is not until two that the claws grow, and not until eight, the fangs."

Caught breathing in, Sano coughed. : _Fangs?_ :

For a moment, just a moment, Kenshin's smile parted enough to show a hint of canines. Long. Sharp. And no more human than a mountain cat's.

: _Oh,_ : Sano managed.

Kenshin glanced away, wet his lips. "You should speak to Kaoru-dono. And then Yahiko; he is young, _hai_ , but he was raised knowing of hanyou, where Kaoru-dono's knowledge is less than complete." Humor glinted in violet. "And it will be an excuse to make him read to you. The _Tales of Inuyasha;_ that may be enough to snare a young boy's attention to books, should your demand for the knowledge force him to sit down long enough to start them."

: _Glad to help,_ : Sano promised. : _But - how'd you learn to hide it so well?_ :

"Hide it?" Kenshin smiled ruefully. " _Aa_ , to you, it might well be hidden. But even before this one's... adventures... in Rethwellan, there were many Edoko among the Ishin Shishi. This one had practice being polite among them."

Sano nodded. : _Megumi said - Edoko don't like hanyou? Why?_ :

"Edo is a larger city than Kyoto," Kenshin answered, "and far more peaceful, from the time of the first shogun to now. There are less hanyou within it, less Gifted, and less trust of them."

Huh. Well, given some of the reports on Errold's Grove before the Hawkbrothers settled in nearby, that actually made a sort of sense. People who didn't deal with the Gifted every day tended to start regarding them as weird, and then as "not quite right", and - if you let it go too far - as downright _dangerous_.

Attitudes that only got worse when you had bunches of people crammed together - and according to everything the Heralds had learned from the Yamato clans, Edo alone easily had a million citizens.

 _A_ million _people. Gods. I can't imagine what it must be like to have a million of your people in one place!_

Though it certainly explained how Yamagata and Shimazu could drop enough thousands of people on Haven to make up a small Imperial Army, and still think they'd only brought a "small" contingent of survivors...

Wait a minute. _Adventures?_ Given the swordsman's usual gift for understatement... Sano fixed the hanyou with a serious blue eye. : _Kenshin. Did someone hurt you?_ :

"There were attempts made. Some persistent. One might have reached Haven months ago, otherwise." Kenshin shrugged, a minimal shift of shoulders.

Sano tried not to let his jaw drop in unhorse-like shock. _Months?!_ Adventures, hells. No wonder the man was so damn jumpy!

"This one found it strange, that the outward signs sparked the most fear among these lands," Kenshin went on. "Those of Yamato, those who choose to raise hanyou, know the true peril lies elsewhere. The fury, the need to hunt... that comes with the waking Gifts, with the change from child to adult. One can be very dangerous, then."

Sano sighed. : _Good thing you're past that._ :

" _Aa._ Mostly."

: _You're twenty-eight!_ :

"And how old does this one _look_ , Sano?"

Sano stared at him. Eighteen, maybe nineteen, was his first impulse. It was only the eyes that threw you. Deep eyes, for all their startling color; patient and wary and too bitterly experienced to be young.

"This one is hanyou," Kenshin repeated patiently. "Not ningen. This one has twenty-eight years, _hai_. But in body, this one is not much older than Kaoru-dono."

Whoa. : _How long...?_ :

"It is difficult to say. Most of us do not die in bed." Kenshin smiled briefly. "A century is common. Two, not unknown."

Sano shook himself. : _That has to be magic._ :

"Yes," Kenshin said softly, eyes dropping to the cleaned birds. "We are born to what your people find abomination." He bowed, and picked up his burden. "This one has shopping to do. _Abayo_."

: _See you. Later._ : Sano watched him go, wide-eyed. His friend. His Chosen. _His;_ he could _feel_ it.

His Chosen, who was and always would be tied to blood.

 _Oh, gods..._

: _Sano?_ : Megumi, hovering at the edge of his mind. : _What's wrong?_ :

 _Besides everything?_ Sano picked up his feet, heading for the dojo on his way to Companion's Field. : _I need to talk to Rolan._ :

: _And here I thought you were going to keep pestering Kenshin until it was too dark to see a white cat underfoot._ : Her tone was teasing, but he could feel the worry under it.

: _No, Fox-lady. I'm not pestering Kenshin any more today._ : Not when he had a kid to pepper with questions, and then a Queen's Own Companion to yell at.

 _Kenshin's hanyou,_ Sano thought grimly. _Hanyou look like Changechildren._

 _And if anybody's warned the Heralds, I haven't heard about it._

* * *

 _Gods, I hate politics!_

Supply lists. Troop movements. Spy reports from half a dozen sources, everything from far-ranging Heralds to traders to King Tremane's own people keeping watch on Hardorn's border with the Empire.

Kerowyn stared at her paperwork, and firmly squashed a desire to throw lit candles at the whole mess. _Join the Mercenaries' Guild. Find honor, blood, and glory. Ha._

: _What, you didn't get enough of all three?_ : Sayvel snickered from Companion's Field. : _You've got a visitor._ :

A four-footed one, from that tone. Perfect excuse to go outside. _Freedom!_

Freedom that came with an angry, scarred Companion attached, pawing back grass as if it'd jumped up and tried to strangle him for eating it. "Sano?"

The Companion looked at her. Snorted, and turned his attention back to the bared spot of soil. Scraped a few more lines with a casual hoof. Stared at her.

And, with one annoyed swish of a ragged white tail, stalked away.

 _What the heck?_ Kerowyn frowned at departing silver hooves, shook her head as she looked to see how much damage the Palace gardeners were going to have to put right-

"Letters," the swordswoman muttered, stalking around to view them as Sano had. Yamato letters; which weren't exactly letters as Valdemar knew them, more like symbols for syllables. _Hiragana_ , she thought Eldan called them. : _Got a minute? Someone just scuffed me a puzzle._ :

: _For you?_ : her partner said teasingly, evidently just as glad to be distracted from his own set of diplomatic reports as she had been. : _Hmm. Not the clearest, but I think it says "Sankon tetsusou"._ :

: _Which means...?_ :

: _Loosely translated? "Iron reaver, soul stealer"._ : A thoughtful tap of finger against lips filtered through. : _Though I think I ran into a gloss in a book of Kyotoko children's stories that said it could also be translated as "Exorcising claws". Which made a lot more sense, given the creature... that was... using them..._ :

Brow quirked up, Kero waited.

: _I'm coming over there._ :

Curiosity piqued, she walked and stretched, working out the kinks of a morning spent with too much information. Whatever the problem was, it'd be a change from trying to figure out just how paranoid they had to be about the Eastern Empire, the pirates on Lake Evendim, the barbarians moving in the North, the remnants of Urtho's lab on the Dhorisha Plains, and who knew what other problems the universe might dream up in the next few weeks.

 _All of which will somehow, someway, end up being Valdemar's problem_ , Kerowyn thought. _Got to be the local religious tolerance. All those gods mucking about making Plans._

Plans which must have only gotten more complicated with the Yamato settling in these past two years. The Guard had already had to break up one scuffle between a few bow-carrying miko and local priests of the Sunlord. Evidently the Yamato had a sun _goddess;_ the Lady of the Mirror, sister of their Lord of Storm. And some of her more stiff-necked followers were not at all amused by hearing the sun referred to as _he_.

 _Idiots. Damn good archers, though._

Eldan came into view at a fast walk, flipping through a volume three handspans' tall and half that wide. "Here."

Ink-strokes of hiragana, framing a shockingly bloody image. A white-haired Yamato swordsman leapt across the page, dressed in red, blade sheathed by his side as he tore apart a gigantic centipede with clawed hands.

Kero whistled. : _A Changechild?_ :

"The inu-hanyou Inuyasha, defeating a centipede youkai," Eldan explained, drawing her attention toward the pricked ears visible in white hair; ears as cute and enticing to the fingers as those of the brave, curl-tailed, thick-furred dogs Yamato called _Shiba Inu_.

 _And you don't want us using Mindspeech_ , Kero realized. _Why?_

"Supposedly these are stories of the wild adventures he and his companions had - oh, about four centuries ago," Eldan went on. "If he ever really existed. Which Sozen Michiko, the nice Kyotoko lady who sold me this book, implied he didn't. After all, everyone in Valdemar _knows_ Changechildren are vicious, murdering beasts; not human at all. Certainly not human enough to fall in love with not one, but two miko, and marry the one who lived after the quest was over."

"Everyone in Valdemar is magic-paranoid," Kerowyn grumbled. " _Probably_ vicious, yes; but not all of them are. Doesn't surprise me Nyara doesn't always tell people what she used to be... you're wearing a look, Eldan. I'm not sure I like it." She glanced down at scuffed ground again, listened to the suspicious silence in her head where a certain horse-shaped troublemaker ought to be offering sarcastic comments. "No, I'm definitely sure I _don't_ like it." _Wait. Think about this._ "Everyone in _Valdemar,_ hmm?"

"Yamato love fiction," Eldan pointed out. "They've got volumes of stories of heroes, and demons, and birds that talk..."

"You know as well as I do that Hawkbrother birds _do_ talk," Kero pointed out.

Eldan raised an eyebrow. "And how many people in Valdemar know that?"

 _No, I don't like this at all._ "Changechildren as heroes, hmm?"

"Or villains," Eldan nodded. "Or just people - though they usually seem to be considered as noble as samurai."

Kerowyn connected samurai, and Sanosuke, and liked the look on Eldan's face even less. "But I've seen Himura. He may not look like your average Yamato-"

"I doubt you've noticed," Eldan noted, "Yamagata can pull off cool better than half our Council. But a lot of Yamato _flinch_ when someone doesn't have dark hair."

Kerowyn tapped her fingers on her belt. "They're nervous around gaijin."

"That's what I thought. Only Ratha says Sanosuke went to see Rolan before he came here." Eldan shifted his grip on the book. "He won't say what happened, but given Sano _didn't_ BeSpeak you..."

"Rolan shut him up," Kero said bluntly. Adding _track down Talia_ to her list of Things to Do. The Queen's Own had to be in this up to the top of her cute curly head. _And if she didn't tell me, and didn't tell Eldan... oh gods, politics. Kill you faster than arrows._ The Herald-Captain did some swift mental calculation. "When's Lord Yamagata due into Haven?"

"Within the week," Eldan said dryly.

"And then will you managing not-horses be willing to talk?" Kerowyn groused.

: _Oh, I think the situation will speak for itself,_ : Sayvel snickered. : _Caryo says Selenay's looking forward to pinning some samurai ears back._ : A mental shrug. : _But go on. I like the pretty pictures._ :

Kero growled. "What else?"

"Sano's attacker." Eldan flipped pages. "It's not in this book, but Michiko knew what I was talking about. A _chuugumo_ is a kind of evil spider-youkai. Loosely translated, demon."

 _Yamato call Change-spiders demons?_ Kerowyn smirked at her own surprise. _Forgetting Karsites called Heralds Demon-riders, are you? And they're the ones who really_ did _summon demons._

Eldan stopped flipping, and nodded. "Inuyasha met something like it, called spider-heads."

 _Yuck._ Kerowyn grimaced at the swarm of furred legs; she had nothing against spiders, but anything that had distorted human heads for bodies couldn't be good. The whole image reeked of menace. Gray threads of webbing were inked across the page, spinning out to ensnare the red-clad hanyou and a cute little redheaded kid with blue mage-fire around his hands. "Huh. And Kenshin said he'd never seen another human with red hair."

"He didn't." Eldan smiled wryly. "Take a closer look."

A cute little redhead with fox ears in his hair, brilliant green eyes, kit-sized fangs, and a golden foxtail. "Another Changechild?"

"Probably. But the story calls him something else." Eldan shrugged. "A kitsune. A... good fox demon. If that's possible." He gave her a narrow look. " _Can_ demons be good? We've mostly dealt with the demons out of Karse; usually Abyssal Plane elementals, and not too bright, according to Sejanes. Youkai seem to be a lot smarter. And some of them can look like humans. Of course, that's probably because the Yamato are lumping Change-Beasts and Changechildren together, but... didn't you say your grandmother met a demon that could do that?"

"She did. Almost died from it, both her and Tarma. It wasn't just teeth, claws, and hunger; it could cast spells of its own. And it could think. Very messy. Thank the gods most mages aren't damn-fool idiots enough to summon _those_ up." Kero shuddered; Warrl had passed along some _very_ explicit images of just what Thalhkarsh had been capable of. Her grandmother trapped in another's body, Tarma's link to the Star-Eyed broken... brr. "As for whether a thing like that could ever change... don't know. That one ended up warded into a temple. Never heard what happened to it afterward. The high priest seemed to think it ought to get the chance to try, though." She frowned at the picture, looking past the familiar red outfit and sword. _Black hair?_ "Eldan, if this is Inuyasha, why does he look human?"

"According to the stories, hanyou aren't always magical," her partner said simply. "Some nights, their enchanted blood just ebbs, and they can pass for human." He shrugged. "Which was one of the reasons I thought these were just stories. After all, what kind of a magical creature would lose its powers just because of the time of the month?"

"Ask Darkwind about Elspeth sometime," Kerowyn said dryly. "She doesn't lose her power, but it can sure as death go haywire." She shot a glance toward Companion's Field, even though Sayvel was well out of sight. "None of which tells us why Sano wanted us to look at this."

: _Ask me again in a week,_ : Sayvel said smugly.

"We'd have an easier job of keeping Yamagata from losing face if we knew now," Eldan pointed out.

: _Eldan-love, I can't._ : All the humor vanished from Sayvel's tone. : _This goes all the way up. The Yamato have a whole set of traditions, even_ laws, _for dealing with... what I can't talk to you about yet. And their clan leadership has kept them from telling us about any of it. Selenay_ has _to talk to Yamagata face to face, as ruler of this land to one of her daimyo. Anything less will slight his honor and make him dig in his heels. And then a lot of innocent people could get hurt._ :

"A week," Kero said flatly.

: _My word on it._ :

"You're sure we can wait that long."

: _Given that we went two years without hearing so much as a whisper of it, and still wouldn't know if Himura hadn't shown up-_ : Sayvel's attention jerked away. : _Oh, hellfires! Megumi, you young idiot!_ :

* * *

"The Hishimanji Guren gang," Kaoru said breathlessly, hand still stinging a little from knocking out two gang members with her bokken. Megumi was out of easy sight beside the storage shed, giving her an eye outside the sealed dojo. _Keep calm, keep calm... Healer Gensai took the children out to fly kites, they shouldn't be back anytime soon. But there's too many for us to take on, even with Megumi. The Guard will be here soon, all we have to do is keep everybody from getting hurt until then._ "Now I get it."

"Who?" Yahiko burst out, glaring at her two former students. Hira-chan and Sato-kun weren't helping matters, both dodging the former pickpocket's glare as Hira-chan nursed his injured arm.

"A band of delinquents," she explained, remembering Chief Tostig's sketch of the flame-embroidered kimonos, the fur-trimmed short jackets. Odd uniforms, currently filling her courtyard with too many foes to count. Not all Yamato, either; apparently the gang's leader had picked up more than his share of Valdemaran and other followers. "Sort of like an army reserve for criminals."

"Yakuza?" he pounced.

"More dangerous. They've got less to lose." Kaoru grimaced. "Why does this have to happen while Kenshin's gone?"

"Gone?" Yahiko goggled at her. "Where'd he go?"

Funny what the mind fixed on when your heart was beating like a runaway horse. "I sent him shopping for rice, salt, miso, soy sauce..."

"Do you have to get them all at _once?_ "

Sato gathered his nerve to look at her. "What should we do, Kaoru-san?"

"What do you mean, 'we'?" Yahiko puffed out a disgusted breath. "You're the ones who started this!"

"Yahiko-" Kaoru began.

The ten-year-old gave her a look he might have used on Suzume when she grabbed after something bright and glittery and all too sharp. "You don't really believe their story, do you?"

About running into a bunch of drunks hassling innocent people, dealing with them, and their friends showing up for revenge? With that odor of alcohol on every breath? No. But she'd hoped to give them a chance to tell the real story without having to invoke Truth Spell.

: _Chosen, get away from the doors!_ :

The blast knocked them backwards even as she pulled Yahiko away; shards of wood clattering to the polished floor, the sharp scent of blasting powder puffing smoke into the air. "What - was-"

"A wooden cannon!" Yahiko looked sick, eyes fixed on the smoking tube of shaped oak in her courtyard. Thugs gathered around its sides, pouring more powder into wood, ramming home a clay ball that prickled like magic in her ki sense. "How can anybody have a thing like that?"

 _A wooden_ what? _Wait - cannon. That was in 'Tousan's books. Some kind of Chi'in weapon?_

"Walls are nothing to Hishimanji!" Hachisuka's coarse laughter rang in Kaoru's ears. "Come on out, or I'll demolish this crappy little dojo!"

: _Kaoru, you can't!_ :

: _I won't, Megumi,_ : Kaoru promised. : _But stay clear of it! I remember its name, not how it works._ : Bokken in hand, she met his sneer with narrowed eyes. "This _isn't_ Yamato, we _don't_ settle personal arguments with swords, I am _Herald_ Kaoru Kamiya, and the Guard will be here any minute!" She gestured over her shoulder. "If you have a quarrel with them, take it up in court!"

"Herald?" Hachisuka's sneer spread wider. He snapped his fingers at his men. "Kill the horse."

Kaoru froze. She didn't know how a cannon worked, what its range was, what it might do-

"That doesn't sound very friendly."

And she could breathe again, gazing past the ranks of angry punks to the small swordsman stepping soundlessly through her front gate, bucket-laden pole held casually over his left shoulder. "Kenshin!"

"Perhaps the two in the back have been up to no good, but still, did you have to resort to a cannon?" Kenshin set the buckets down, matter of fact as if he'd found unexpected guests raiding a bento box. "Now let's calm down and work this out."

"And who the hell are _you?_ " Hachisuka snapped.

One of his brighter underlings held out placating hands, sweating. "Master Hachisuka, this is bad. This guy is... is..."

His voice dropped; Kaoru cast wide her Mindspeech to catch what she could not hear.

 _"Remember the rurouni who went through the Yakuza by himself? I think it's him."_ A pulse of fear. _"That red... that's not hair dye!"_

"Coward!" Hachisuka waved a fist at the men manning the cannon. "You gonna let yourself be scared by one rurouni? _Fire!_ "

Dimly Kaoru registered Yahiko's gasp, her former students' screams, Megumi's neigh of rage as the Companion trampled distracted thugs between herself and her Chosen. : _Kenshin!_ :

His face was cast down, bangs hiding eyes in shadow. Something brushed the edge of her Mindspeech, like a tickle of silk. _Be calm, Kaoru-dono._

A thunderclap of sulfurous smoke-

Eyes flashed open, steel-blue. The sakabatou sang free, sharp side turned to slash a flying ball of clay-

Clay split, two halves sailing through the air to blast holes in her courtyard on either side of the rurouni.

Silence.

Yahiko was panting next to her, clinging to her hakama as they both realized Kenshin was alive, _alive_...

And from those narrowed, steel-blue eyes, _very_ ticked off.

Thugs' teeth chattered with fear.

"It is pointless to hesitate," Kenshin wrapped one hand about his saya, claws glinting and obvious, "when using this sakabatou against non-human objects." Bangs fell forward once more, shielding that deadly gaze. "Once again, stop this foolishness."

Whistles split the air, and the Guard's blue uniforms poured past the rurouni, grabbing anyone Megumi hadn't yet stomped on.

Kenshin stepped aside, sword sheathed, eyes wide and violet once more. "My, my... so much happens when this one is away."

* * *

 _A cannon._ Sejanes rushed through the thronged streets, pausing only to state his name and business to the head of the Guards keeping onlookers away from the Kamiya Dojo's gate. _A Chi'in cannon. Forty little gods, I never thought to see one of those again!_

Or rather, the ex-Imperial admitted to himself, he'd _hoped_ to never see one of those hellish creations again. Thank the gods, most outside that vicious empire recognized that Adepts were safer than weapons touched with salamander's fire.

 _Most, except for desperate Yamato_ , Sejanes thought darkly, pushing the gate open just enough to slip through. The air was still thick with the acrid scent of blasting powder, and every magical sense an Adept claimed shuddered at the raw hunger embodied in flames. _Both sides of the Revolution were using them before we left... Karal. I've got to get Karal over here. We need someone touched by the gods to disarm the damned thing, and he's the best one in Valdemar for that. Hells - do we even_ have _anyone who can take it apart without blowing their own heads off-?_

He stopped almost in one of the courtyard craters, staring at what had been a wooden muzzle. Now it was a nest of neatly-slashed wooden pieces, a fist-sized bundle of white-wrapped, carved stone cupped in their midst.

 _The focus talisman_ , Sejanes realized, sensing faint emanations of dark elemental fire through insulating silk. "Thank the gods," he breathed, turning his gaze on the blue uniform that had stalked through the perimeter next to him. "How on earth did your people know what to do, Chief?"

Tostig shrugged, embarrassed. "It wasn't us, Instructor Sejanes. Himura warned us off. He said there was a risk of fire." The Guard Chief paused. "And given Himura-san's usual talent for understatement..."

"I've seen those things take out a city block if they're mishandled," Sejanes confirmed. "Though I'm surprised anyone who'd know that would leave what's left of it unguarded, even under your watchful eye."

"I did not."

The cool voice peeled the years away; he was no longer a peaceful instructor, one of many Adepts handling the mage-school of Valdemar, but Imperial Adept Sejanes, running with Tremane through the bloody alleys of Kyoto as the Shogunate's men fell behind them...

 _Red hair_ , Sejanes saw, dimly registering the mad scramble of Guards backwards as lightning danced in his hands. _Short. Skinny as a woman. An aura subtle as wind over running water. And the cross-shaped scar._

 _Battousai the Manslayer._

But the gi... the gi was a bright, cheerful red, not the somber horizon-blue of a Choshu uniform. This young man bore one sword, not two; hair not in the high topknot of a ronin, but low ponytail of a wanderer.

And the eyes... the eyes were gentle. Violet. No match to the burning amber that haunted his nightmares.

Amber he'd caught one heart-stopping glimpse of through Herald Kamiya's vision. _Gods! Why didn't I see it before?_

 _Because it_ was _from her vision_ , Sejanes realized, cursing himself for a blind fool. _Damn Mind Gifts... it's like getting herb-knowledge from a_ dyheli. _They munch a diretongue leaf, and all they see are pretty lights; bite into it yourself, and they'll be burying you in the morning. You don't see what's there, you see what_ they _see. And she was afraid of Jin-e, not Himura._

But now the scent of blasting powder hung thick and bitter in the air, so like those dark Kyoto nights, and there was no mistaking the man.

 _It's him. I don't know how, or why - but it's him._

Sejanes swallowed dryly. Dismissed the lightning, smoothing out the flow of his power. "Excuse me, Himura-san." He nodded toward the ruined cannon. "That thing's blast leaves a distinctive scent. It seems to have brought back bad memories."

"Any who have been on the field with fire drug are haunted by it." Kenshin inclined his head. "No harm was meant, or done."

 _Huo yao,_ Sejanes recognized, _not konasenkou._ Fire drug, not lightning powder. The Chi'in name for blasting powder, that only a Yamato who'd learned of it from military forces would use. And that not-quite-a-bow of head; the grace of a samurai to an equal under another lord's authority.

 _It_ is _him._ Only years of practice in court situations let Sejanes hide a grimace. _Sweet gods, Herald-Captain, I thought you'd just found a hitokiri!_

"No harm?" Tostig sputtered, glaring at Sejanes. "Collegium instructor or not, the threat of deadly force is still a threat even if it isn't drawn steel-"

"Tostig-san." Kenshin smiled. "No harm was done. Instructor Sejanes only mistook this one for someone else, that he did."

Deliberately, Sejanes looked away from the redheaded threat, narrowing his gaze at the ruined cannon. "Chief, if you don't mind... as a magical item of unknown provenance, this does fall under the authority of the Mages' Collegium. I'd like to discuss how to dispose of this monstrosity with Himura here." _Without listening ears_ , his tone implied.

Tostig switched his gaze between them, hmphed. "I'll get Herald Kamiya."

"Kaoru-dono is more than busy enough, giving testimony on those who threatened her Companion," Kenshin pointed out. "Really, Tostig-san, this one will be fine."

"Chief!" one of the under-officers called. "One of these _gentlemen_ is claiming he's a Rethwellan noble."

"Terrific," Tostig growled. "Keep him there! We'll have to send for the Captain. And more Heralds..."

Sejanes watched the Guard walk off, nape of his neck still prickling at the thought of just _what_ was beside him. "He has no idea you don't need his protection, does he?"

"This one hopes he never has need to learn otherwise." Choshu's most deadly hitokiri shrugged. "Sejanes-san. This is Haven, not Kyoto. The war is over, that it is. This one is only a rurouni, resting under Kaoru-dono's protection, who never wishes to take a life again."

 _Only a rurouni. Only a masterless killer, with the strength to take an Adept down._ "I never knew just how we managed to get away that night," Sejanes said quietly. "I saw you move." Saw steel and crimson flash once more in memory, guards falling like bloody leaves. "If you'd wanted us dead, I'm not sure I could have stopped you."

"Your Eastern Empire had decided to remain neutral, not aiding either side." The friendly cheer had faded from Himura's voice, leaving it cool and clear as a mountain stream. "Your troops had withdrawn from our ports. All that remained were diplomats such as you and Tremane-san, and you were leaving."

Sejanes laughed once, without humor. "We weren't your targets."

 _"Aa."_

The Adept's lip curled in black amusement. "And I told Captain Kerowyn you were just a swordsman."

"One would... prefer you let that impression remain, Sejanes-san."

Sejanes shot the smaller man a dark look. "She already knows you're hitokiri."

" _Hai._ But she does not know this one was once-" Himura's lips tightened. "This one has listened to Kaoru-dono's tales of this land's history, that I have. If Valdemar, who prides itself on its Heralds, and its honor, would send she who was their own Heir to assassinate another land's king..."

"Ancar was declared Oathbreaker," Sejanes said carefully.

"As were many in Yamato." Red bangs hid those speaking eyes. "This one was once a blade in Katsura's hand. But he is dead, and the war is over, and we _lost_ , Sejanes-san. And now there is only the making of a new life, here, among strangers." A subtle shift of red silk; the afterthought of a shrug. "There is a garden to tend. Young ones to look after. This one wishes nothing more."

Sejanes nodded slowly. "I see."

Oddly enough, he thought he did see. Tremane, too, hated the ways of the assassin.

 _And my boy wasn't half as good at it as Battousai_ , Sejanes thought bluntly. _He's right, curse it. The_ Hitokiri Battousai; _he's a living weapon, much as any cold-drake ever was. If any monarch knew what they had in their grasp-_

Selenay _might_ be able to refrain from using him. A Monarch who was also a Herald - might. Valdemar preferred to defend its borders and live in peace, handling internal problems with patient negotiation, Truth Spell, and an honest will that everyone should come out of a dispute better off.

 _Which was hard enough for me to believe, and I'd been studying everything I could find on this land for months before we dealt with it_ , Sejanes thought practically. _No, I can't blame him for hiding._ "I suggest a compromise."

"I am listening."

"I will tell Captain Kerowyn what I saw," Sejanes stated. "She deserves to know. And you deserve to have her know, in case something goes horribly wrong and you need to use those skills we both know you have." He nodded toward what was left of the cannon. "As you did today."

Red still shaded violet. "I have yet to hear a compromise."

"I will only say what I saw, Himura-san," the elderly ex-Imperial said carefully. "After all, rumors, however dark, are only rumors." He paused. "And you're not the only one who's had to start over from a bloody past."

Himura inclined his head, bangs falling away from a quiet smile. "One hopes your student is faring well, that I do."

 _You may choose to look innocent, but you're still keeping up to date on who's who and what powers you might have to cross_ , Sejanes thought. _I am duly warned._ And, oddly, comforted. Valdemarans might find the Yamato as alien as the Shin'a'in, but he'd visited those wild isles enough to begin to unravel the puzzle.

 _And just as with those horse-nomads, you have to start with the proverbs. In this case - the best swords stay in their sheaths._

It was polite to be armed. It was more polite to gently, subtly, display the fact that you were armed, to avoid needless confrontations. Such behavior showed you were a person of honor, one whose face could not lightly be damaged.

 _Which tends to cut down on the duels._ The ex-Imperial smiled, determined to reply in kind. "Fending off marriage proposals. At his age." Sejanes rolled his eyes. "I have to admit, one of the first things that crossed my mind when I'd heard your people dropped in on us was hiring a _geisha_ for him. Tremane may like to live barracks-practical, but sooner or later he's going to need people who can breathe court intrigue like fish do water." He spread his hands. "But Hardorn's a long way from here, and I know your people like to stick to their own. Not to mention it'd probably scandalize the nobility of every kingdom from here to the Dhorisha Plains..."

"One does wonder what would happen should _shunga_ appear in common society," Kenshin said wryly.

"The Kaled'a'in _kestra'chern_ would love them," Sejanes predicted. "The noble houses would probably have a collective stroke." He let his voice rise to a dowager's scandalized gasp. "It's just not _done!_ "

Kenshin smiled, a subtle tension easing out of his frame. Let his glance rest on bundled silk. "Do you know how to properly remove the danger from that? One has dealt with them before, in emergencies, but the method is - unfortunate to the surroundings."

"I would imagine," Sejanes said, after a moment's breathless shock. _He's not a mage. He's not a priest. And that thing is pure, crystallized elemental Fire._ "If I might ask - how?"

Kenshin's shoulders lifted slightly. "One reads its ki to find the flaw, the seam where magic has sealed on itself to wrap _this_ world around the shard of another. Then one strikes, and lets the Fires burn themselves away."

Sejanes choked. "And _fry_ you in the process!"

Kenshin shook his head. "This one Fetches, that I do. So long as one holds the flames away, and keeps bringing in cool air from above to breathe, one can endure." A sidelong glance. "But this one cannot both protect myself and others, that I cannot. Not in such a fragile place as Haven."

"I was planning to use the workroom over in the Mages' Collegium," Sejanes replied. "With the Sun-Priest Karal's assistance. He's dealt with powers of other Planes before. I'd also like to have one of your miko or houshi along; preferably one with battlefield experience. It's been years since I've seen Chi'in weaponry." The Adept folded his arms, glaring at the offending weapon. "And no offense, Himura-san, but I'll be unspeakably blunt and say seeing one now, in your people's hands, makes me very, very uneasy."

"For the miko - ask Gensai-isha and Kaoru-dono," Kenshin answered. "They have been in Haven far longer than this one, they will know who to ask. As for your unease, Sejanes-san..." Violet narrowed, glinting an odd, steely blue. "There were no cannon in the Jump with Choshu. I would have sensed them."

 _I don't doubt it._ "Satsuma, then?"

Kenshin sighed softly. "When a clan's ninja and hitokiri are fewer, and of... lesser skill... the leaders of a clan will find other ways to make themselves as dangerous as their allies."

And Choshu had held the service of the most dangerous hitokiri of all. Of course Satsuma would rise to the challenge. _Face_ , Sejanes thought darkly. "Queen Selenay will want to know how a street gang had this weapon."

"That," Kenshin said bluntly, "is for those such as you and your Queen's Heralds to discover. Or anyone who has been in Haven longer than this one, with more time to track the paths of obligation and thievery."

Reasonable enough, the mage admitted to himself. After all, if what Herald-Captain Kerowyn had passed along was accurate, and Himura had only entered Haven for the first time a few weeks ago...

Sejanes froze, implications crashing down like a Yamato tsunami. "Does Lord Yamagata have any idea where you are?"

A heartbeat's silence. "It is likely Yamagata-san believes this one perished in the Jump," Himura said carefully. "Many did, of both clans, when the weave of our passage through the other world was rent. I patched it, but I - fell. It was only luck that managed to grip another weakness and fling me through to this world again." A wry, faint smile. "One cannot appreciate how lovely the Pelagirs are, to a man who has thought he would never see earthly perils again."

 _Fell,_ Sejanes thought. _In the Ethereal Plane._ It'd take more than luck to get a man out of that. Even an Adept.

 _Curiosity has killed more Adepts than all the dark mages combined,_ Sejanes reminded himself. _Still... I'll never get a better chance to Look._ Blinking slowly, he invoked Mage Sight.

Himura wasn't there.

 _Illusion, betrayal - no! Think, you idiot. Yamato. Subtlety. Look again, and wait._

And there it was. A whisper in the energies where a human's life-force should be, subtle as raindrops in a stream.

 _Incredible._ Sejanes extended a tendril of his own magic, tracing near, but not into, that flicker of disturbance. _Hawkbrothers can make themselves appear as part of the forest - which means you_ can _find them, if you know to look for trees where no trees should be. Himura's wind and water and one thin thread of fire..._

In the physical world, he felt the hitokiri watching him with narrowed eyes.

Focusing his attention on two levels at once, Sejanes rubbed his palms gently together, slowly pulling them apart in a glimmer of blue mage-light. Held the shimmering sphere a moment longer, then blew on it as if puffing on dandelion seeds.

The light bobbed on his breath, floating like a soap bubble as it wafted near red silk. Circled flame-bright hair, tracing an eddy in the magic around Himura too faint for even Mage Sight to sense. Hesitated.

And settled into Kenshin's upraised palm, limning cupped fingers in bright azure.

Sejanes frowned. "You don't have Mage-Gift." _You can't. You can't possibly._ He'd felt the magic in Yamato blaze as the very earth convulsed. A trained mage could survive it, if they were careful and lucky and never, never tried to tap a ley line once the ground started to give way. A child - no. Impossible.

"I do not," Himura agreed. "But energy is energy, Sejanes-san." Fingers cupped, he closed both hands about the little light. Shut his eyes, drifting into the meditative contemplation Sejanes had seen at a tea ceremony.

 _Or before the first stroke of a duel..._

Blue light glimmered, shifting through violet to crimson to faint, perfect pink-

And a breeze blew over them both, wafting blooms of pure light from Himura's hands to his.

 _Cherry blossoms._ Sejanes caught a handful, marveling at the perfect imperfections of petals sketched in mage-light. Here was a bloom with the slightest of bites from a hungry caterpillar; there, another with curved petals flattened as if by rain. All lingering just a heartbeat, dissolving like snowflakes on skin.

"A small shift of ki," Himura said, shrugging as if it were no great matter. " _Onmitsu_ are fond of such for distractions. One has seen them often, that I have."

The Adept stared at him. "But that is magic."

"That is shaping energy, Sejanes-san." The hitokiri gave him a _look_ , very like a Healer who'd caught a young idiot fighter with a shattered knee trying to crawl out of bed. "One would hope a mage of your skill would know one does not always need Mage-Gift for that." Himura's face brightened. "Excuse this one, but someone must explain to Gensai-isha's granddaughters why there are holes in the courtyard."

A whisper of wind, and he was gone.

Sejanes let out a long, slow breath, willing his heart to stop racing. Waved to the nearest Guardsman, and pointed toward the remnants of the cannon. "I need," he said precisely, "a very big box."

 _And then_ , Sejanes thought darkly, regarding his still-trembling hands, _I need a very stiff drink._

* * *

: _He's going to get drunk,_ : Altra sniffed, shifting against Karal's knee.

 _I doubt it. Sejanes used to be Imperial Army,_ Sun-Priest Karal thought, seated on a chair stolen from the mage's desk. He scratched under the Firecat's chin as Sejanes swallowed pale, fiery liquid without a pause. _I imagine he can still drink like a trooper._

: _He's afraid._ : The mastiff-sized Firecat leaned into his strokes, fluffy red tail building up static from his partner's dark wool robes. : _He'd better stay sober long enough to tell us why._ : The cat kept blue eyes at least half-slitted, letting his partner borrow his sight to read his companion's expressions.

Not that Kerowyn's was hard to read as she leaned against the wall, obviously missing Eldan's presence. But Sejanes had specifically asked for them, not Kerowyn's semi-official diplomatic partner. "I take it you're not disarming that hell-stone tonight," the Herald-Captain said dryly.

"It's under lock, key, and Ward," Sejanes said firmly, barely a trace of slur in his words as the older mage leaned back in his padded chair. "And given that we want to study it rather than simply destroy it, I'd rather Herald Elspeth and Darkwind were here when we do take it on. Wrestling with elemental Fire is no job for an unprepared Adept, much less mages as flammable as gryphons. And no offense to Quenten, but neither of us is as young as we used to be."

"This wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that you're trembling like a leaf, would it?" Karal blinked blindly at the Adept, catching the man's start through Altra's sight.

Kerowyn grimaced, face all but shouting _I wouldn't have said that-_

"Oh yes," Sejanes said gravely. "Magic responds to emotion, after all, and until I've put some distance between myself and certain... very bad memories... I wouldn't trust myself to light a candle without a match."

Kero scowled. "You've been around blasting powder before."

"True." Sejanes poured another half-glass, not spilling a drop. "But it's been quite some time since I've been around Battousai."

"Battousai?" Karal asked, puzzled.

"Himura's alias. Warrior name, I think the Yamato call it." Kero straightened. "You've _met_ him?"

"Met. Hmm." Sejanes took a sip. "Ran screaming away from, would be more accurate."

Kerowyn's brow wrinkled as if she wanted to jump in and pound answers out of the man; instead, she pressed her lips together and nodded at Karal.

 _Thanks. I think._ The young priest flashed a smile at his former weapons instructor, then turned a sober look on Sejanes. "Tell me."

"I hate to say it was a dark and stormy night... but in truth, it was." Sejanes turned the cup around in his hands. "About twelve years ago, now... the Yamato's civil war calmed down for a time after the Ikeda Inn incident, but every Forescrying spell the Empire had done afterward pointed to growing, unstoppable tumult. Still, Imperials look to the long view, or used to; Emperor Charliss determined that rather than waste time and resources trying to pit one side against the other, it would be best to just withdraw for a few years, then reestablish relations with whoever won. Tremane and I were in the process of doing that, walking back from the docks after seeing another ship off, when..."

Karal gave the mage a few breaths to compose himself. "Go on," he said softly.

"Ballads talk about a rain of blood." Sejanes stared into the distance. "This was the first time I'd actually seen it. Blood drizzling down the tiled roofs, mingling with the rain pouring over us. You could smell it, taste it...

"The Shogun's guards - one of those unavoidable 'courtesy' escorts, you know how it is to be a foreign diplomat - tried to get us out of there. But Tremane and I... well, we were, quite frankly, curious. Shocked, yes, but curious. Most of the fighting hadn't taken place near the foreign sector. We wanted to know what Yamato were capable of when they weren't being diplomatic. And after all, we were an Imperial Adept and a Master! What did we have to fear from native swordsmen with only primitive magic?"

: _You know what they say about pride and falls,_ : Altra said privately.

 _I think he knows that,_ Karal answered wryly.

: _Now._ : The Firecat flicked an ear, amused as only a cat could be, seeing a predator suddenly turned prey.

"We tried to summon light," the mage went on. "Nothing worked. It was if someone had laid a hand on every ley line in reach, bidding it silent. Finally Tremane dug into his personal power and summoned a mage-light - just as lightning flashed, enough to see the bodies on those rooftops. The Shogun's ninja." Sejanes drew a sharp breath. "Captain, if you would be so kind as to turn that Mindspeech of yours to our advantage... I think you should see this. I think you should - all of you - see this." He looked hard at Karal and Altra. "It won't be pretty."

Kerowyn frowned. "If you're sure..."

Karal swallowed. "All right."

The room vanished, blurred away by Sejanes' memory.

Rain. Shifting and fluid as the subtle aura their Sight almost, almost couldn't sense was there, quiet and steady as a sea breeze over the rooftops. Warm and wet and tanged with copper as light flashed off a blade arcing impossibly high-

And red blazed down, a flow of soaked topknot like bloody rain, as a slight figure in Choshu-blue dropped out of the storm-torn sky. Trailing faint blue light, his katana cleft a guard in two from shoulder to hip, whirled to slash the throats of two more before his feet even touched the ground.

Even a war-trained mage needs a moment to react...

And in that moment six men were _dead_ , the ley lines were still unreachable, and half the guards left were surging forward while the rest were dragging the Imperial diplomats away, running like fury-

Tremane's words were lost in thunder and battle-cries, but their gist was plain; get somewhere defensible, get clear of this odd kink in local magic, get _away_ from the shuddering terror on their trail.

For terror it was. _Power_ crackled against their senses. Blood and flame and determination focussed in burning amber eyes, swamping any thought of attack, or defense, or anything beyond the sheer, raw need to _run away_. The predator racing through lives toward them knew no mercy, and no pity, and would not stop until every last one of its foes was dead...

Kerowyn's power released him, and Karal shuddered in his chair.

"And that," Sejanes said into the silence, "Was my first, and until today last, encounter with the Demon of Kyoto. Hitokiri Battousai."

"Demon?" Kerowyn asked levelly.

"So-called. _Kyoto no youkai. Kuroken no Choshu. Nogitsune._ " The mage shrugged slightly. "Kyoto's demon. Choshu's black blade. Evil fox-demon of the fields. Not that _I_ ever saw a demon kill with steel."

That was for sure. Karal gulped in a breath. "But you were - _afraid_."

"Terrified. Oh, yes." Sejanes stared into his cup. "It was weeks before either of us could sleep without a light burning."

"Fear projection?" Kerowyn asked neutrally.

"We're trained to deal with that," Sejanes said, just as level. "Certain assassins in the Empire still used _dyrstaffs_ when we left. Simple magically projected fear would not have worked. No; from what I felt, from what those Kyotoko I asked told me, what hit us was something far more... primal."

"You were that scared of him and you asked questions?" Karal blurted.

"It's what I do, young man." Sejanes' wry smile took the sting from the words. "I'd seen something remarkable. Impossible. Something that could change every assumption the Empire had about Yamato and its people. Of course I asked questions! While we were packing every last essential and Imperial dependent to clear out on the next possible ship to Chi'in," he added wryly. "Longest month of my life."

Kerowyn leaned back, eyes half-shut and waiting. "So what did you find out?"

"Enough to make sleep rare and precious." Sejanes sighed. "You have no idea what's landed in your lap, Captain. Battousai's not _a_ hitokiri. He is _the_ hitokiri. The shield of the Ishin Shishi. Katsura's right hand. The Shogunate's nightmare. Their swordsmen couldn't touch him. Their priests couldn't curse him. Their spies couldn't find him - and _onmitsu_ are _good_ , Captain; good as any Herald-spy." He shook his head. "The Ishin Shishi would strike. The Shinsengumi would chase them. And one man - only one - would step between them. Survivors said the last you saw were eyes like flame, and the last you heard was a challenge: _Go back the way you came, or die._ "

Karal buried his fingers in Altra's fur. "He let them go?"

"If they ran. If they weren't between his people and escape." The mage wove his fingers together. "The last week I was there, one of the guard barracks was completely wiped out. Thirty men dead in less than an hour, five Ishin Shishi prisoners gone - and no sign of _anyone_ but a single swordsman." Sejanes smiled wryly. "Rumor was, those Shinsengumi had gotten their hands on Katsura. Temporarily."

Kerowyn pursed her lips in a silent whistle. "You admire him."

"I would have taken him for the Empire's service in a heartbeat," Sejanes confessed. "That skill, that _honor,_ in Tremane's hands? We could have-" His breath caught.

"Used him, as Katsura did?" Karal said softly.

"Ha." Sejanes' bark of laughter was bitter, and sad. "I knew you'd see it, young man. I knew you, if anyone, would see it."

The young priest's ears burned. "He's living with a _Herald_ ," Karal explained, catching Kerowyn's astonished gape through Altra's eyes. "He's taking care of _children_. You say he's been mixed up with killers and murderers since Kaoru found him, but all he's done is catch them and turn them over to the Guard. He hasn't killed them. He hasn't killed _anyone._ " He felt his flush deepen. "Karse is - well, it's not as hard a land as it used to be, but Alberich and Ulrich told me how it was." Thinking of Ulrich didn't hurt as bad now, but he still had to stop, and breathe. "People who start killing that young usually have something wrong with them. Something twisted in their soul. If he doesn't... then someone _made_ him kill."

"At thirteen, if Kaoru's right about his age-" Sejanes stopped. "What is it?"

"Thirteen." The Captain looked as if she'd bitten into raw crabapples. "You're sure? I thought the age of majority in those Isles was fifteen."

"It is."

Anger glinted in her gaze. "The Yamato call Katsura a hero."

"To Choshu and Satsuma, I'm sure he is," Sejanes acknowledged. "Just as to them, the quiet, polite rurouni who's been looking after your young Herald is the Demon of Kyoto. And Himura _is_ that deadly. The most deadly fighter Choshu had-"

"The most deadly _Katsura_ had," Kerowyn interrupted. "Himura said Katsura released him."

"Good gods, did he?" Sejanes looked aghast. "I'm surprised Choshu didn't kill him for that."

Kerowyn frowned. "He didn't want to be a hitokiri anymore."

" _Want_ has nothing to do with it, Captain. As the Yamato say, a hitokiri is a hitokiri until the day he dies. And when Choshu and Satsuma landed here, in Haven, they believed Battousai _was_ dead." The mage paused. "Which, given what I know of Yamato pride and honor, is likely the only reason the leadership of those clans _negotiated_ rather than fight your Heralds to the death."

: _You're twisting my fur,_ : Altra warned.

 _Sorry._ Karal swallowed dryly, untangling his fingers. The tension singing between Kero and Sejanes was making his stomach churn. "Look, I'm - not a fighter. What aren't you two saying?"

"Lord Yamagata's a war leader," Kero stated.

"A Choshu war leader, at that," Sejanes put in. "Who's about to see his clan's rivals and reluctant allies lose serious face when Selenay's people ask pointed questions about just where that cannon came from. Who may well see a way to put them in his debt, and regain face lost to all of Valdemar by the clans' mishap in the Jump, _and_ rub Satsuma's noses in the mud at the same time."

"You think he'll want Kenshin," Karal realized.

"He'd be a damn fool if he didn't," Kerowyn said bluntly.

"And that's why you wanted to talk to me, isn't it?" Karal kept his face sober, turning toward the mage he could not, himself, see.

"It is," Sejanes said, equally sober. "A few subtle, dropped hints from the ambassador of Karse. Some of my own as a representative of Tremane and Hardorn. Yes, I think the two of us could go far in impressing on Yamagata's people the need for inner stability in Valdemar for the good of the allied kingdoms."

"Hold up there, Instructor." Kerowyn held up a halting hand. "Aren't you taking this a bit too seriously? Scooping up a handy hitokiri's one thing. You can't possibly think Yamagata would use Himura as an excuse for a revolt! Valdemar took his people in. Selenay's given him nothing but honor and fair treatment."

"Yet before all that, their slip with the Jump inflicted on the samurai the mass insult of surrendering rather than dying with honor." Sejanes stood. "There's a moral quandary taught to young samurai in Yamato, Captain. A man has murdered your father. You've pursued the killer for years. During that time, he's shown nothing but honorable behavior to his enemies and allies alike; an honor he shows once more, for you're pursuing him across a harbor in a boat, which is sinking, and he turns his own boat around to rescue you. There's no other hope of surviving. What do you do?"

"Let him rescue me, and give it up as a bad job," Kerowyn said tartly. "Enough's enough."

"And that would earn you a caning, at least," Sejanes wagged a finger at her. "For a samurai, the proper answer is to let yourself be rescued, thank your rescuer with all due politeness - and execute him the first moment you can."

Kerowyn stared at him a long moment. "That's _insane_."

"Choosing your ruler based on talking horses who are servants of the gods, rather than a council of the great lords and a civil war or two," Sejanes said dryly. "To Yamagata's people, _that's_ insane."

"But he knows what Foresight is. I've met some miko who have it," Karal put in. "Even if he-" _Attacked Selenay. Sunlord, please, no!_ Yet it fit, it fit so terribly well with what he'd learned of that strange, proud people. "He has to know the Heralds could see him coming."

"The Shogunate would have had miko as well," Sejanes replied. "And none of them saw Himura." The mage rested a hand on the back of his chair, squeezed it lightly. "Battousai shaped magic to block off the ley lines. He shaped his own aura to _feel_ like... never mind. Until I have proof otherwise, I have to believe he might be able to counter every Gift your Heralds have."

"But Kenshin wasn't even here when the Jump went wrong!" Karal said desperately.

"That's true. And given that Himura has lived here so peacefully, with a Herald, I would go so far as to say he feels no slight to his honor," Sejanes acknowledged. "That shouldn't change. So long as he's not in Yamagata's service."

Kerowyn was kneading her eyebrows, trying to shake away frustration. "All right. I'm not sure I take your read on them for granted; try it out on Eldan, he's the one who knows how courtiers think. Or don't think. I _will_ take for granted that Yamato are more insane than they let on, and if they get their hands on a hitokiri, they might try something stupid. So. What will Yamagata offer, and how do we match it?"

: _It won't be money,_ : Altra said confidently.

"No. No, it won't." Sejanes sat down again, tapped a finger on the arm of his chair. "Place, Captain. That's what we can't match. Connections, family, clan; to Yamato, those are everything."

A disturbing grin flitted over Kerowyn's face. "Then we have him."

"Herald Kamiya?" Sejanes rubbed the back of his neck. "A pretty face won't be enough to hold him. Even those ronin who served as Imperial mercenaries, and there have been several over the centuries, never stayed. Wife and children or not."

"Trust me," Kerowyn said confidently. "As soon as Megumi and Sano can talk him down enough to realize she feels the same way, he's ours."

"That simplifies things." Sejanes drummed the arm of the chair, thinking. "Herald Kamiya's allegiance is, of course, to Selenay, so Yamagata has no hold there. Myojin Yahiko was Edo samurai of a Shogunate clan, but no one's claimed him, so Kaoru has first rights there as well, as his sensei. The Gensai family are Satsuma, but if Chief Tostig is correct, they're not only Healers, they're Healers who have looked after Kamiya samurai for generations. Yamagata wouldn't dare interfere with that. And a rurouni, himself, is just a wandering swordsman. He has very few clan obligations left so long as he chooses not to take service. And so long as the sensei finds his presence tolerable, it's rude to ask a guest to leave a dojo too strenuously..." Sejanes leaned back in his chair, a quiet smile spreading over his face.

"It sounds like you're saying," Karal said cautiously, "that if he wants to stay away from Yamagata, Kenshin couldn't find a safer place to be than the Kamiya dojo."

"If he wants to. Which it seems he does, given that he as much as admitted to me he's allowing Yamagata to believe he's still missing. Which is _very_ odd, for a samurai; even one who's managed to survive two years among strangers-" Sejanes paled suddenly. "Himura said Katsura _released_ him? How good is his Valdemaran?"

"Fair to middling," Kerowyn noted. "Why? I grant you Kaoru doesn't always use the same words; she said her father was relieved of his obligations so he could come to Valdemar."

"I take it she meant _houmen_. Set free from his obligations," Sejanes corrected. "I suppose you could translate it as released, but it's not the same thing."

: _And just why,_ : Altra asked archly, : _are you looking at me?_ :

"Yamato don't release a human," Sejanes replied. "They release hawks back to the wild. Village folk from slavery or unclean status to rank as a true human being, after acts of uncommon bravery. _Youkai_... from vows that bound them to human service."

Kerowyn crossed her arms. "I don't care what they called him. Himura's _not_ a demon."

"If they think he is, it doesn't matter what we believe, now does it?" Sejanes set his cup down. "And they do think he is, Captain. With good reason. The fear Tremane and I felt, the terror anyone who faced Battousai and lived shook from for weeks afterwards, is primal. Inborn. Written in the very blood of every human being who's ever lived."

: _Creatures of the Abyssal Plane have always slipped through to this reality,_ : Altra agreed. : _If humans didn't instinctively fear them, none of you would have lasted this long._ :

"He can pretend to be a demon?" Karal shivered. "That must be horrible."

Kerowyn _hmph_ ed. "Horrible or not, what does it have to do with Yamagata getting hold of Himura?"

Sejanes sighed, shoulders slumped; for once looking his age. "It means Yamagata won't hesitate to use magical compulsion," he said grimly. "Human samurai can be trusted to hold to the proper order of society; to watch over their inferiors, and obey their superiors as they would the emperor himself. Demons can't. Not without - outside interference."

"He'd use a _geas?_ " Pushing Altra's head off his lap, Karal stood. "There's got to be something we can do!"

"I plan to," Sejanes said, dead sober despite his drained glass. "In the morning. We do have a few days before Yamagata could possibly get here, yes?"

"I've got every Herald on circuit reporting where he is," Kerowyn nodded. "Let me know if you need anything. And I do mean _anything_. I've been under Need's _geas,_ I know exactly what Himura would be up against."

"Quenten," Sejanes said plainly. "And free permission from Herald Kamiya to place protections around her dojo. But mostly Quenten. It looks as if Himura can work some small magics _without_ Mage-Gift, and the White Winds school knows a lot more about that than I do." He gave Karal a rueful smile. "And a few prayers wouldn't hurt."

: _We can do more than a few prayers._ : Altra rubbed up against Karal's ankles. : _Ready?_ :

A shock of dislocation, and they were _elsewhere_ , touching down on a cobbled street just outside a wooden gate. : _Interesting._ : Altra nosed painted wood, whiskers bristling. : _I was aiming for the inner courtyard._ :

"Storm static?" Karal knocked on the gate. The mage-storms might be over, but sometimes the Ethereal Plane was still rippled enough to make Jumps less than accurate.

: _It feels like it, but it isn't. Someone's protected this place._ : Altra bared fangs, amused. : _Very subtle._ :

 _Which would make sense,_ Karal thought. _After all, if Sejanes thinks Kenshin's here because he's trying to protect himself... and he knows other Yamato can Jump..._

"Who's there? Is there an emergency?" A young woman's voice, cheerful despite hints of strain.

"Herald Kamiya? I don't know if you remember me. It's Karal," the young priest called back through the wood. "Captain Kerowyn asked me to visit." _Well, sort of._

The gate opened. Altra glanced past the bokken-armed Herald to where a balding elderly Healer was helping a matronly woman with a bandaged face sort her three children out from two little girls and an older boy in swordsman's clothing. _:No sign of him.:_ A glimpse of white moved behind one of the outbuildings, and Altra's red tail lashed. _:Ah. There's Megumi. If you'll excuse me, I think I'll go have a little spirit-to-spirit talk.:_

"Sun-Priest Karal!" Kaoru took his arm in the position he and the Artificers had worked out as most effective, guiding him over the lintel to the main path. "We were going to be sitting down to eat soon."

He'd mastered a lot of things without his sight, but chopsticks weren't one of them. "I don't think we'll be here that long. Listen-" Quickly, quietly, Karal outlined the situation. "So Altra brought me here," he finished. "I'm not sure exactly what he thinks we can do; the Son of the Sun can lay a _geas_ , but I don't know if I can stop one! Still, if part of what Himura does is magically _look_ like a demon, and if that's how Yamagata would grab him - well, Altra has certain powers over Abyssal Plane entities, so maybe we can... what?"

Kaoru drew in a ragged breath. "Why didn't you tell me?"

 _She's not talking to me._ Karal swallowed dryly.

A soft sigh, not far to his right. "This one did not mean to worry you, Kaoru-dono; that I did not." The faintest of rustles, a long ponytail sliding over silk. "This one has been _rurouni_ almost a decade. Never have there been any who might try to compel this one's blade."

"Until now," Karal pointed out, turning to face the man. Wondering what he looked like now, so many years after Sejanes' terrifying encounter. Not that different, if the mage's unease was anything to go by. _Which means he does use magic. A lot._

"One hopes Yamagata-san is not so lacking in courtesy." Something chill moved under the surface of that light humor. "Sessha had... broken a promise, to take service with Katsura. It left this one vulnerable in ways unexpected, that it did. But Katsura's release, freely and with gratitude given, healed that breach." A breath. "And I will not break that vow again."

 _Forsworn, and with magic that pretends to be a demon's._ Karal turned that thought over in his head, hiding a grimace. _Sunlord, he would have been vulnerable._ "Would it offend you if we tried to protect you? I know your people follow other gods..."

"Sessha is a student of Hiten Mitsurugi, Karal-san." Humor touched Kenshin's voice. "We know there are gods. We try to let them go their own way."

Karal blinked. _That's - different._ "After this is over, would you mind sitting down to talk?" he said in a rush. "My lady Natoli is an Artificer, and I know they're going to want to pester you to death about that cannon. And I was... sort of tossed into Valdemar myself a few years back." _You're not that much older than I am. But you feel like Alberich, even more than Kerowyn. And I miss that._

"Sessha would be honored." The words faded at the end; probably a bow. "If Kaoru-dono trusts you to protect this dojo, and not compel, this one must trust you as well."

 _The dojo?_ A deliberate shift of words, he could _feel_ it, after all these years in court. "I was more worried about you. If it is demon energy your people's spells might seek, a simple purification would-" Karal stopped, feeling the slightest breath of air. _He's moved away?_ "What's wrong?"

A Firecat's squall split the night. : _Get away from him!_ :

"Sessha has not touched your Sun-Priest, _Hineko-sama_."

: _You - you-_ : Hissing, Altra stalked toward them; Karal could feel his friend's fur standing on end. : _How_ dare _you!_ :

" _I_ am here invited, welcome, and bound by the courtesy and tradition of my people. _You_ verge on violating guest-courtesy, Hineko-sama."

A red-furred tail switched. : _I am a servant of the Sunlord. You don't think that petty steel can harm_ me.:

"No one's harming anyone!" Kaoru stepped between Kenshin and the snarling Firecat. "I don't know what you think he's done, but leave him alone!"

: _Stay out of this, Herald! Karal and I know how to deal with his kind-_ :

: _If you do,_ : a new mind-voice broke in, as Megumi's hooves stepped across the courtyard, : _Sanosuke will stomp you into a red-and-white throw-rug._ If _there's still that much left of you. I wouldn't count on it. Himura's a master of Hiten Mitsurugi, and it's meant to deal with "his kind". Works pretty well against_ our _kind, too._ : A horsy snort of laughter. : _Just ask Sano's sore jaw._ :

"A student only, Megumi-dono," Kenshin said quietly. "Not a master."

His _kind?_ Karal blanched as the implications sank home. _Altra, what on earth is going on? He's not really a-_

: _He_ is.:

 _And I offered to purify him._ Swallowing, Karal stepped blindly to the Firecat's side. "Our protections wouldn't do you any good, would they?"

"The dojo, Kaoru-dono, Yahiko-kun - _hai,_ protect them, if you will." Kenshin's tone was even, matter of fact as a man watching an oncoming avalanche. "But sessha... no, Karal-san. What measures you could take would not be worth the cost."

: _Depends on where you're standing,_ : Altra said laconically. : _Ready?_ :

"Wait a minute!" Kaoru blazed. "What do you mean, not worth it? What's going on?"

: _Ask Rolan,_ : the Firecat said sardonically. : _If he'll tell you. If he'll even let you remember you asked, before your Queen learns the truth._ : Altra sniffed. : _Expecting nobility. Pure hearts. Self-sacrifice. It must be coming back as a horse._ :

Karal bowed. "Thank you for your hospitality, Herald Kamiya. I think we'll be going now." _Before anything else goes wrong._

A twist of reality, and he was borrowing Altra's sight to head for Sejanes' bottle of fiery liquor. "Karal, what-" the mage started.

Karal shook his head. Poured himself a bare finger of the powerful drink. Sipped, and grimaced, glad that Kerowyn had taken her leave while they were gone. She'd have teased him about his face for months. "You're going to need more help than just Quenten."

"More help?" Sejanes repeated incredulously. "My gods, young man! If you were any paler, the Heralds would be hunting you for boot leather!" He glanced at the Firecat. "What happened?"

: _Valdemar claims there is no one true way,_ : Altra said dryly. : _That they're a refuge for any who want to live in peace. That all that matters is a good heart, a will to try, and following the law of the realm._ : He settled down as only a cat could, licking frazzled fur back into place. : _Now we get to see if they mean it._ :

* * *

 _Abayo_ \- "Later", informal goodbye.

 _Daimyo_ \- "great names", heads of powerful samurai clans.

 _Shunga_ \- "Spring pictures", erotic illustration.

 _Onmitsu_ \- spies, ninja.

 _-isha_ \- healer, doctor.

 _Hineko-sama_ \- "Lord Firecat".

Altra, of course, knows very well that most Companions are reincarnated Heralds.


	5. Chapter 5

_It's quiet_ , Kaoru thought darkly as she stood on the engawa, scowling out at her freshly-weeded garden as it steamed under the unseasonably hot sun. A garden notable for a distinct absence of Kenshin. _Too quiet._

No Kenshin near the laundry, though it was washed and hung to dry. No Kenshin adding a last artistic touch of tiny maple-leaf ears to the rabbit-shaped riceballs left for her breakfast. No Kenshin near the woodpile, shredding out the nerves he pretended he didn't have on unsuspecting logs.

"Hey, ugly!"

Her toes left the floor in a start; Kaoru touched down in a whirl that flourished her bokken at the smirking brat who'd taken advantage of her distraction. "Yahiko-chan...!"

The boy ducked, tried to snag a particularly tempting riceball, shook out a stinging hand after her bokken made sure she got to it first. "Is Kenshin up on the roof _again?_ "

"Like you could tell," Kaoru grumbled through a mouthful of rice and pickled plum, checking that inner sense of _Kenshin_ and trying to get a _where_ from it.

 _Calm. Quiet. Concealment._

Meaning he'd probably found somewhere out of the way to meditate, and was once again wrestling down nervous tension that had jumped to life the moment Instructor Sejanes hauled the cannon off, and only seemed to increase with each passing day. Where, though, she had no clue. He could be sitting right behind her; he could be halfway across Haven.

 _He's probably not at Companion's Field, though,_ Kaoru thought darkly. _Megumi would have said something._ Whatever Rolan had said to Sano, the scarred Companion had stuck to the Field ever since, avoiding them even when she and Megumi visited to speak to Talia; haunting the Field's far corners, BeSpeaking no one, and in general acting about as friendly as a wild boar with a toothache. If Companions could cry, her beautiful Megumi would have been in tears.

As it was, her beautiful Megumi had come within inches of leaving bite-marks on various Palace grooms.

: _They deserved it,_ : Megumi sulked.

: _No they didn't, and you know it,_ : Kaoru countered. : _What is wrong with you? Why isn't Sano here, with us?_ : And why, whenever she thought too hard about Kenshin and Karal, did she have this feeling of something blurred in her head?

Silence.

Kaoru growled under her breath. _That does it. Another day of this, and I'm going to grab Kenshin and_ drag _him into the Field. Megumi's not happy, and Sano's not happy, and I just want to hide until the storm blows over-_

 _No. Not me_ , she realized. _Kenshin._

Kaoru probed at those wisps of feeling, trying to read intent from faint, meditation-calmed shadows. _Kenshin's... worried about something coming. Something he can't do anything about. He wants to be somewhere else, but it would be... worse if he was?_ She frowned. _Yamagata. Of course._

 _I don't get it. Yamagata worked with Katsura. If anybody would know Kenshin's a good person, he would!_

Yet Kenshin and Sejanes both seemed to think that wouldn't matter.

 _'Tousan, how much didn't you tell me? I try, but sometimes I think I don't know my people at all._

"I want to be that good!" Yahiko's face glowed with admiration as he snagged another riceball. "How did Kenshin get that good, anyway? He sure doesn't act like a swordsman!"

"Um..."

"And the way he moves! He must have killed a lot of people."

"Ah..."

"Hey Kaoru, how come Kenshin never talks about what happened before he got to Haven? It's like his past is some deep dark secret or something! I'll bet he was-" Yahiko turned to her with a shadowed, gleeful grin, waggling his fingers suggestively. "An evil bandit!"

Kaoru stifled a groan. "No, he wasn't!"

"So what was he?" Yahiko's playfulness dropped away, leaving only a worried boy looking to his teacher for answers. "I mean, he came through the Jump somehow, right? The way you two act, some of the things Gensai-isha says... it almost sounds like he was with the Ishin Shishi! But that can't be right."

"Why not?" Kaoru pounced. "Tell me."

"Red hair?" Yahiko gave her a sidelong look. "He's got to be _neko_ or _kitsune_ -hanyou; _could_ be _yama-inu_ , but he's not twitchy enough around crowds. And he's strong. _Taiyoukai_ blood, has to be."

 _Lordly youkai?_ Kaoru felt her eyes widen. Her father had mentioned that youkai had ranks just as human samurai did, but her threadbare wanderer certainly didn't act like he was born to a high lord's standing! _Then again, Kenshin chose to be rurouni, not even ronin. Even if he was born noble, he had to know he was giving it all up._ "What difference does that make?"

"Taiyoukai rule the wild lands. All the pieces of domains ningen know better than to go into. They honor the Emperor, and they send in taxes to the court - sometimes pretty weird taxes, I heard the Inu Lord of the Western Lands sent in ebony silk woven from a giant moth's cocoon four years ago - but they _don't_ get involved in ningen wars. Not unless some ningen _wants_ to get stomped flat." Yahiko rolled his eyes, none-too-subtly enjoying knowing something else she didn't. "And _everybody_ knows a lot of the Shishi were mid-level Edo samurai, and they didn't like hanyou very much. Some of the Imperialists were hanyou, sure, but they were pretty much lesser _inu_ or _koumori,_ even a few _usagi_. Or was Kenshin like me? Somebody who just got caught in the Jump and dragged along?"

"Um..." The creak of the gate distracted them both, and Kaoru looked that way with a frown. That seemed a bit loud for just Healer Gensai.

"You there! Is this the dwelling that has been sheltering the foreign wanderer, Kenshin Himura?" an unfamiliar Guard's voice barked. "Take us to him at once!"

"It's impolite to be asking favors before stating your business, young man," Gensai said indignantly.

"Why, you-"

"Elias, enough!" Chief Tostig scowled darkly as Kaoru dashed into sight. "Herald Kamiya. I'm sorry to disturb the harmony of your household."

Kaoru stopped outside of easy striking range of the chief and his troop, set back on her heels by the formal apology. She traded a glance with Gensai; he looked just as confused and wary as she felt. _Oh, this doesn't sound good._

 _:No, it doesn't,:_ Megumi agreed, trotting around the garden to her Chosen's side, fixing the five subordinate Guards with a stern eye.

"Is the man known as 'rurouni' here?" Tostig asked, any trace of his usual friendly demeanor hidden under professional calm.

"I don't think so, but I'll have to check," Kaoru said, just as cool. : _Yahiko! Stay out of sight._ :

Just about to peek around the corner of the shed, the young boy jumped. _Busu! Don't do that!_

: _I mean it! I don't like the feel of this._ : Her eyes narrowed. : _And don't call me ugly!_ :

"I'm afraid we must search the house and grounds," Tostig said formally, waving to his men to spread out.

"Without permission?" Kaoru blazed.

Tostig released half a breath; not quite a sigh. "Herald, you know as well as I do that the guidelines on investigating reports of Changechildren are very clear."

"Changechildren?" Gensai crossed his arms, looking like a friendly, immovable piece of granite. "Surely you can't mean Himura. Why, I've Healed the man! If he had any trace of twisted magic about him, I assure you, I would have sensed it."

Tostig tried to step around the scowling Healer, reddened slightly. "With all due respect, Healer Gensai, you are neither a Herald-Mage nor a Collegium Instructor, and until he's officially cleared by one or both of those, I have to act on the information I've been given."

"What information?" Kaoru bit out. : _Yahiko! Go find Kenshin_ now! _Tell him to get to Companion's Field, stay there, and wait for me. Go!_ :

 _But Kenshin's not-_

: _They don't know that!_ : Kaoru kept her face still. : _Gods, I know he's patient for a samurai, but I really do_ not _want to test it by letting the Guard arrest him and take his sword-_ :

 _Take his sword?!_ Horror smacked her from her student. _Kenshin's a hanyou!_

"Hey, kid! Stop!"

Kaoru moved in concert with Megumi, accidentally-on-purpose stepping between the two Guards who had any real chance of stopping Yahiko's dash for the streets. The other three tried to grab for the kid, but they were no match for a Yakuza-trained pickpocket. Yahiko dodged, wriggled, applied a truly nasty kick from Kamiya Kasshin to the side of one Guard's knee, and vanished into the crowds.

Limping, Elias glared at her. "Herald or not, you're interfering with a legitimate investigation!"

: _I suppose now isn't the time to point out this man, brainless as he may be, is the nephew of the head of the Haven Weaver's Guild?_ : Megmui noted.

 _Oops._ Kaoru winced. _Oh well._

"Actually, she's helping, Elias," Tostig said dryly. "Myojin's her student. She can't find Himura by mind, but she can find the boy." He fixed her with a look. "Isn't that right, Herald Kamiya?"

"I'm just as much an agent of the law as you are, Chief," Kaoru stated. _Except when the Queen tells me not to be._ "You wouldn't be searching my dojo in force without more cause than just rumors of a Changechild."

"Unfortunately true." Tostig pressed his lips into a grim line. "In brief, Herald Kamiya, the Hishimanji Guren suspect Brydiau is in fact third son of Rethwellan Lord Ysteriad, and did invoke his rights to contact a Rethwellan agent of his family, one Geoffres. Said Geoffres has listened to Brydiau's account of the night's events and informed us of certain similarities between his description and a certain serious incident that occurred in Rethwellan six months ago."

"You mean he thinks he has something on Kenshin he can use to get out of threatening Megumi," Kaoru said heatedly.

Tostig didn't bother to deny it. "I was hoping I could impose on you to apply Truth Spell to both men."

 _So you can tear the place apart while I'm not here,_ Kaoru thought darkly. _Because people "know" Changechildren might have any kind of dangerous magic. Even magic that could fool a Herald_. She _hmph_ ed, and nodded. "Take me to them." _With any luck we can keep the questioning quiet, then invoke Heraldic Circle authority to lock up_ everybody _until Selenay has her audience with Yamagata-_

: _Kaoru, you'd better have that rurouni of yours stashed somewhere._ : Kerowyn's mind-voice broke in. : _Yamagata slipped past the last set of Heralds on circuit - he's in the outer city_ now.:

* * *

 _What should I do?_

An unsuspecting soul had just come up to tend to the garden pots on this Haven roof, swearing at the heat. Meditating in a shady corner, Kenshin kept his eyes almost closed, and his ki quiet. _Not here, no one here_.

 _What should I do?_

For samurai, it would barely be a question. Yamagata-san was the rightful daimyo of Choshu-in-Valdemar, chosen and confirmed by all his people, not just the surviving samurai. More than that, he was an honorable lord, who had done all he could to destroy the corruption of the Shogunate and build a new, more humane government. Even Yamagata's silence on the matter of hanyou might well be the best choice he and his advisers could find; these Valdemarans _lived_ with guardian spirits among them, even if only the Karsite Firecat had vision clear enough to see a hanyou for what he truly was.

 _I_ _still don't know what Altra said to Kaoru, at the last. If it was not to me - it must be a matter for Heralds alone. Perhaps the spirits themselves are not certain how to proceed?_

That, he could well believe. The guardian spirits of Chi'in had had the most contact with the youkai of Yamato, and that had led to _centuries_ of efforts to conquer their islands; by steel, by coin, and by magic. Because youkai were not the akuma a kirin was bound to destroy, but...

 _If Katsura believed we could find safe refuge here - then Companions must be more forgiving than the kirin. Even Altra_ threatened, _but he did not attack_.

A very calculated threat, that. Carefully given in full view of Megumi and her Herald, as representatives of Valdemar; and given when _no_ noncombatants were present.

 _So that if he were wrong, and I truly was an akuma - no innocents would be hurt_.

They'd been given a chance. They'd been given peace, offered with an open hand; and if the other hand held a silver dagger, well, that was only sane with strangers. What else could Yamagata have done, but show his people were fair, and honorable, and just, and pray Valdemar learned that of them before they realized all of Yamato's heritage?

No, any born to bear two swords would be honored to find a place with Yamagata-san.

 _But I... was not._

It'd seemed such a little thing, when his master tended to it. "Even a master of Hiten Mitsurugi must pick his battles, and this one is not worth fighting," Hiko Seijuuro had declared, looming over a small, wide-eyed young redhead. " _Kenshin_ , however worthy, would never be allowed to carry two swords unchallenged. So. Himura Kenshin you will be."

So simple. So shattering to his entire world.

 _Is that all it takes?_ the eight-year-old hanyou had thought, curled on his futon in Hiko's lonely cabin, those few nights he had energy left to think at all. With the years' distance between them, Kenshin could see that Hiko had been careful not to overstress his still-growing charge, but lessons in writing and history and math had been near as exhausting as being chased over a mountainside by a sword-wielding lunatic. _Only a name?_

Only a name, to overturn everything the Tokugawa had decreed for almost three centuries; that society was and ever would be split into the five classes; samurai, farmer, artisan, merchant, and river folk. That status and class was fixed by that of one's mother, unless - and only rarely - a lordly father chose to adopt his half-bred offspring into a samurai clan.

Only a name, and Hiko's firm use of it, and the proper, if poor, garb of a samurai child in training. Bokken, gi, and hakama whenever they were in town, red hair pulled back into a topknot to display ears and eyes and all the markings townsfolk whispered were of taiyoukai blood.

Though both he and Hiko doubted that. A simple kitsune was far more likely; an ordinary youkai, who took human form only to indulge a passion for scholarship, steal tasty treats, or go out drinking with merchants, geisha, and _jizamurai_. Why on earth would a taiyoukai choose to honor a poor farm-wife's plea for a child?

 _Though I suppose it could have happened. The youkai do as they will. And 'Kaasan was - beautiful._

He didn't think it was just a child's memory, believing that. Not when everyone in his home village had spoken of how much he resembled her.

Not when the village headman had meant to profit from that resemblance in the wake of the epidemic, calling on a greasy trader in human wares to take one still-unfanged hanyou orphan off the village's hands. A slaver who still remembered the _real bargain_ he had missed a decade before, when a grouchy farmer had taken a friendless, homeless, beautiful young woman to wife.

 _That man is dead. Let it go._

Kami, if only he could. But Katsura had _known,_ somehow; known, and declared it did not matter, the Ishin Shishi fought for all people equally.

 _Yet people are people, clinging to what is known and familiar. And here amid strangers we cling even tighter, only taking Valdemar's newness into us bit by bit, like slivered_ aya. _Yamagata_ must _hold the respect of his samurai_ and _the lords of this land; and even here, nobles have rights by sheer power that commoners do not. If he knows..._

Footsteps left the roof, and Kenshin sighed softly. _If he knows, then he knows. For eight years I avoided his agents; for two, I have struggled only to return to my people. A decade can change anyone. Best to wait and_ see _what he will do._

 _But what should_ I _do?_

After the Revolution, he'd known what he had to do. Blood stained his hands, dripped through his dreams; so much pain and guilt he honestly thought he'd die of it. What better fate could an assassin expect?

But he was not samurai, and he would not seek the noble ending of seppuku. It was not Hiko's teaching - and he had violated enough of his shishou's teaching already.

Instead, he'd wandered. Staying quiet, anonymous, helping those few he could. Acting as his master had taught him, as only a humble rurouni, so he might make some small restitution to his victims.

 _Not just my victims. To all those who died at the Revolution's hands. All those left friendless, fatherless, childless; lost and placeless when daimyo and domains were uprooted. We sought to make a better world... but kami, the price._

So he'd helped, fending off bandits here, finding a lost child there. Tracing a wavering path throughout the Isles; anywhere but the bloodstained streets of Kyoto and the power-ridden heart of Edo. Slowly - surprisingly - wearing away at the guilt weighing down his heart.

 _I, who have done so much harm... what right have I to sleep without nightmares?_

Yet he had, finally. Once, in the wake of a child's tears, pulled from the root-cave she'd been trapped in by a rising stream. Again, weeks later, after he'd glared and cajoled a trio of hungry bandits into abandoning their ambush for a chance at honest work, no matter how lowly. And yet again, after spider-youkai had swarmed the abandoned temple he'd shared on the road with a frail elderly samurai on pilgrimage with his young daughter.

 _That_ night he remembered, clear as any black envelope. Hungry youkai would not yield to less than lethal force. Training had swamped guilt, fingers snatched steel from the startled samurai, and he'd danced through the predators lost in a kata's endless _now._

Until _chiburi,_ and eyes still burning amber met elderly, startled brown.

 _"I know you."_

Kenshin had said nothing. What was there to say? Only offered the blades back with a bow, ready to flee into the dawn.

"There's a sword-smith two _han_ south of here." A soft chink of paper-wrapped coins, set beside the fire to young Miya's subtle gasp. "Give him my name."

"Yuhara-san-"

"Young man, my family meant to donate this and more to the shrine of Inari. I can't think She'd mind a more practical gift to one of her children's children."

"The man you know of," Kenshin said softly, "This one will not be, ever again."

"Then don't." A familiar sadness shadowed Yuhara's gaze. "But you know as well as I do, ningen aren't the only danger on these roads. Allow an old man to sleep nights knowing you haven't been eaten, hmm?"

Well. And what could he do, but accept such a gift?

The nightmares had never gone away. But there were weeks between them, now. Days, sometimes, when he felt only the sunshine, and not the phantom spatter of warm blood.

 _To walk the Isles with only a sakabatou... did I_ want _to die?_

Looking into the embers that night, and many afterward, he had to admit the answer was _yes_.

 _To serve Katsura, I broke my oath as a student of Hiten Mitsurugi. I broke_ myself.

 _I... do not think I could heal again, if I broke it twice._

So. And so. He could not serve Yamagata. _Would_ not.

 _But how else can I protect my people? I cannot join Valdemar's Guard; they answer to their Queen, and I can take service under no one. I have no right - and no wish! - to teach the ways of a hitokiri here... though perhaps the small things, the ways to counter blood without drawing it, might be well-taught-_

 _And perhaps I am trying too hard,_ Kenshin admitted, slowly reclaiming full alertness. _There is laundry. A garden. A young Herald, and younger children, to answer questions from; of what Yamato was, and is, and why..._

And three of those children he could feel not far from here, ki frightened and angry and afraid, surrounded by a sea of shock and fear and dark, sickening hate. Hate that grew and flowered from a miasma he'd hoped to never sense again.

 _The taint of oni's blood..._

 _"Monsters!"_

* * *

 _Okay. Think. If I were Kenshin, where would I be?_

Out of sight of the dojo gates, Yahiko slowed, blending into the crowd as he got his breath back. Haven's Guards weren't _that_ different from the Edo police, and the first rule of both was, look for the obvious suspect. And you couldn't get much more obvious than running.

Besides, no matter how _busu_ panicked, he didn't have to hurry. This wasn't just some gutter townsman the Guard was trying to lay hands on. This was _Kenshin._

 _They'd have better luck trying to manacle the wind!_ Yahiko grinned and skipped a step, then sobered. _But... Kaoru said if they found him, they'd try to take his sword._

Impossible. Insane. Take a hanyou's weapon? Even Edo police knew better than that! They might wrap a hanyou in _torinawa_ until he looked like he'd been attacked by rabid silkworms, and bind the blade to its sheath with holy barriers, but they _would not_ take a sealing sword beyond its owner's reach.

 _But... she wouldn't say that if it wasn't true!_

Which would mean the Guard had a really _big_ hole in what they knew about hanyou. The way Kaoru seemed to have holes in everything she thought she knew about the Isles, from ki sense to face to just how much Choshu and Satsuma _didn't_ have in common, despite both being outside domains.

Maybe he'd better hurry after all.

 _So where do I look?_ Yahiko slowed in the eddy of traffic around a noodle-vendor's booth, ducking a waft of steam as he thought. _I don't think he went shopping, Kaoru would have said._

"Did you hear?" A book-lender slurped down fish-flavored strands, one foot on the handle of her cart of texts. "Some of the nobles' sons they call Blues have been hunting a rumor of a Changechild all through our quarter. And now the Guard is helping them!"

"Some drunk idiot probably passed out in the middle of a kabuki play. You should have seen the audience stampede, the first time Valdemarans saw an actor properly made up!" The vendor snorted. "Next they'll be saying Change-Beasts escaped their Herald-Mages and are living among us to murder us in our beds."

Both broke out in polite laughter; Yahiko rolled his eyes. Great. A bunch of gaijin nobles who didn't know anything about magic, but knew they could make trouble for the displaced Yamato with little to no consequences. The young samurai cast a sidelong look at the bright-bound volumes, automatically calculating their value.

 _Quit that! You're not a thief. Not anymore._

Not since Kaoru had smacked him to the floor of a bridge to take one particular purse back, growling all kinds of dire, Herald-type maledictions about law and order and hauling him up in front of court-

And Kenshin had casually set his purse back in Yahiko's hand, wrapping the startled boy's fingers over it.

 _"Don't get caught next time."_

He'd felt the gentle prickle of claws against his palm, looked past two years of dealing with nothing but idiot gaijin, blind ningen, and yakuza, and seen red hair and pale skin for what it truly _was_. Not a half-gaijin like _busu,_ but a true Yamato ronin, a hanyou-

A ronin who'd acted as his mother had said the best samurai did, with honor and compassion for those he was sworn to protect.

 _I didn't know there was anybody like that_ left _in Haven. Most of our people went west with the lords to start Maboroshi. I thought - the only people here were too dishonorable to find a place, so they had to stay with gaijin._

 _And - if there's no honor anyway - you just do what you have to, to get by..._

But a quiet smile turned all of that upside down, and Yahiko had burned with shame and fury. He was Edo samurai, son of a father who'd died opposing an immoral revolution and a mother who'd died working to keep her son fed. He wouldn't even be here if Choshu and Satsuma hadn't cast their Jump so wide in Edo!

 _Just like Kenshin wouldn't be._

Yahiko shivered, remembering that last horrible day in the Isles; the fear, the whispers, the odd boil of storm-clouds from the east where no storm should be. The way ki shivered in the air throughout the city, as if an earthquake were imminent.

 _If only I'd been a few streets north! Eight hundred and eighty wards in Edo, and I had to be in the one that had Choshu and Satsuma's Edo households..._

And the red lightning crackling in the air had pushed everybody back toward the center of growing power, where samurai and artisans and who knew who else were clumping together in Choshu's courtyard. Children, elders, horses, luggage - a lone, street-running waif had no chance of wriggling free from that crush. Not once the alarm gong was struck from the walls, and grim Choshu and Satsuma samurai set arrows to bows and hands to hilts.

One minute there was nothing but screams and panic and flying blood as Ishin Shishi hitokiri faced _their own government's_ soldiers, the next-

 _Black and deafness and falling and_ cold, _so cold-_

And more screams, in languages he couldn't understand, as a dazed eight-year-old picked himself off streets that looked _nothing_ like Edo.

Gaijin clothes. Gaijin faces. Blue and white uniforms that echoed picture-books of the outland "Eastern Empire", yet didn't match _those_ either. Drawn swords, and leveled bows, and so many white horses he thought he'd stumbled into a daimyo's parade.

Tanishi's protection had been the best option a lost, orphaned, and - admit it, scared - kid could think of. The yakuza head had... known already how 'Kaasan had died, he never brought it up. Unlike his thugs.

But that day on the bridge, calm violet had weighed Yahiko. Known him. _Respected_ him, in a way a young samurai had never thought he'd see again.

 _If_ he _can live here, honorably, within gaijin law... then maybe I can find a way..._

He'd never in a million _years_ expected Kaoru to come after him. She was a Herald, after all; wasn't she supposed to stick to handing out judgements on gaijin?

But she _had_ come after him, swearing everyone had to abide by Haven's laws, willing to gamble with her own life to win him out of Tanishi's debt. And then willing to fight her way out with him when the Yakuza didn't hold up their end of the bargain, no matter the odds against them.

 _Really_ bad _odds. Though from how quick the Guard poured into the courtyard after we all left, she must have been MindCalling for help the minute she knew Tanishi's guys were cheats. I guess busu's not that dumb after all._

Hauled out over Kenshin's shoulder, Yahiko had realized it was worth every bruise Tanishi's thugs laid on him to see the wreck Kenshin had made of the place. Yakuza _everywhere_. Blasted through walls. Half-embedded in ceilings. Out cold on the floors like grain-drunk doves.

 _"They weren't going to let me in, so I had them go to sleep for a little while..."_

 _That_ was what Yahiko wanted to be. A swordsman who was kind, polite, honorable, civil even to his enemies - and feared no one.

Though he still couldn't get why a samurai like Kenshin, even if he _had_ gone rurouni, would rather play hopscotch with little kids than draw his blade. It didn't make sense!

But then, a lot of things about Kenshin didn't make sense. A swordsman who wasn't looking for a lord to take his blade in service. A hanyou here in Haven, where there weren't any others. A Yamato who had been in the Jump, yet didn't seem to know anything about what had happened in Valdemar since!

 _Wait a minute,_ Yahiko thought. _How_ did _he end up in the Jump? I was stuck in the crowds, but Kenshin couldn't have been caught that way._

Desperate townsfolk just wouldn't get out of the way for a little kid. But they wouldn't have _dared_ box in a hitokiri.

 _And he is a hitokiri, he has to be. Nobody else could take out Jin-e!_

An unaffiliated hitokiri, caught up in one of the renegade clans' Jumps? As if the Ishin Shishi would have let that happen!

 _But Kaoru and Gensai-isha - they don't think Kenshin's unaffiliated. They think he's Ishin Shishi. And even if busu doesn't know why he_ can't _be, Gensai_ would.

 _Which means he_ is.

Which... didn't make _sense,_ why would an Ishin Shishi rescue a kid who'd _told_ him his family was Shogunate...

 _An Ishin Shishi hitokiri with red hair, and a cross-shaped scar on his cheek._

No. No _way._ Kenshin couldn't be-

 _Katsura's blade. The Demon of Kyoto._

But the Choshu demon had _disappeared_ , everyone knew that. Gone like the youkai legend whispered he was, leaving his bloody katana on the field of Toba Fushimi...

 _"What you don't know, they can't Truth Spell out of you."_

Gensai might seem like a harmless old man, but he wouldn't have said that if it wasn't _important_. Which meant Kenshin... Kenshin really was...

Yahiko buried his face in his hands, breathing hard. He knew the mage-storms were over, he _knew_ it.

So why did the world feel like it'd been dropped in a cauldron and stirred?

Himura Kenshin. Taiyoukai-hanyou. The finest swordsman Yahiko had _ever_ seen.

 _Hitokiri Battousai._

But a hanyou, not the youkai legend swore he was. Which meant... he was in just as much danger if his sword were taken as _any_ hanyou.

 _And so are we. Oh kami - if he kills someone, he'll never forgive himself!_

Forget forgiving himself, a more rational part of Yahiko's mind gibbered. If those idiot Guards got lucky, there wouldn't be anything left of Haven...

 _Stupid, stupid - focus!_ The young samurai used one of Kaoru's breathing exercises; in, deep, out. _Find Kenshin, tell him Companion's Field, and hide behind Megumi._

Yeah, right. If only he could get past the _finding Kenshin_ part-

Yahiko clapped a hand to his forehead. _Idiot. I'm an idiot._

Look for Kenshin? Might as well try to track a hawk through the sky.

 _This is the day Ayame and Suzume play with Aletha Candle-maker's kids! And she just had her third a few weeks ago; I heard Gensai-isha say she's still more tired than she thinks. That's where Kenshin will be._

Yahiko took off, dodging through carts, riders, and pedestrians, keeping an eye out for the Guard. Chief Tostig wasn't an idiot; he might not know Kenshin the way Kaoru did, but he was definitely bright enough to figure out some of the places Kenshin might be.

 _Bet he hasn't figured out to start checking roofs yet, though,_ Yahiko thought smugly, craning his neck up to search for a flash of red among flapping laundry or potted greens. Not that he really expected to see Kenshin, unless the hitokiri _wanted_ to be seen...

He dragged his eyes back down just in time to dodge around a young Valdemar swordsman sweating in light blue. The young man didn't seem to see him, which was fine by Yahiko; there was an air around the older boy of someone looking forward to a fight, and not too fussy about who he picked it with. _Not good_ , Yahiko thought. Scanned the crowd, street-savvy eyes picking out more blue-clad teens and young men, mostly clumped a few stoops down from the one he wanted. _Really not good._ "Aletha-san!"

The blonde matron rocked her youngest in her arms, wiping sweat from her brow, dark circles under the eyes watching Ayame and Suzume spinning tops with Jasenna and Tianne. "Yahiko? _No_ , girls, you can't make the tops fight." Aletha glanced away from the impeding child brawl, sighing tiredly. "What's wrong?"

"It's a long story," Yahiko gasped. _Why is everybody sweating? It's hot, yeah - but it's nothing like Edo in summer!_ His eyes cut sideways as a cobbler's quiet argument with a half-shoed customer turned to yells and shaking fists. A gaggle of goose-girls verbally shoved the shyest of their number away, reducing her to tears. A carter snapped his whip at his horses, drawing blood. The whole street seemed on-edge, roiling with inexplicable anger. It itched at Yahiko, dragging insults to the tip of his tongue. The boy shook it away, but a queer impatience still jangled down his nerves; the broiling threat of a brawl about to break loose. _Something's wrong. Something's really wrong._ "Maybe we could go inside?" _If Kenshin is watching, that'll get his attention-_

"It's _mine!_ " Ayame snatched her toy back.

Jasenna shrieked, drawing back a bloodied hand. "Mom _mee!_ "

Aletha dropped to one knee at the sight of welling red, eyes widening at the pair of catlike scratches slashed across the back of her older daughter's hand. "What- how-"

Yahiko grabbed Ayame as she burst into tears, unease coiling in his gut as the loose knot of Blues suddenly tightened, looking their way. That odd anger felt tighter now, more focused.

"I'm sorry!" the little girl sobbed. "Didn't mean to!"

"I know," Yahiko said, trying to keep his voice level. It might not be as hot as an Edo summer noon, but the Haven natives were acting like it _was_ \- and that meant the flares of temper he'd seen were just the tip of the sword. "I know you didn't." _K'so! I thought she was three! Oh, this is not good, not good..._

"It just _itches!_ "

"Yeah, I bet." Yahiko rubbed his thumb across the first joints of Ayame's right-hand fingers, trying to ease what had to be a ferocious itch as two small fingernails flaked away. "Come on; let's get you back to your 'Jiisan, he can help."

"Help?" Aletha pulled her children back, sick pallor washing over her face as she stared at Ayame's bloodied claws. "Gods, what _is_ she?"

"Um-"

"She's a Changechild!" Aletha's voice spiraled upward. "Guard! Someone get the Guard!"

"Now just _wait_ a minute," Yahiko protested, as Ayame paled, and Suzume whimpered and hid her face against his leg. "We don't need-"

"There!"

And they were swarmed; grim and grinning young nobles backed up by a shocked, whispering crowd, all centered around one tall, dark-haired Blue whose blade had honest steel under the subtle gold ornamentation.

Honest steel with odd, thin veins of red, that made something in his heart cringe away. _This is bad. This is really, really bad..._

"A girl?" One of the younger Blues frowned. "But Jiki, I thought we were looking for-"

"What have I told you about hunting, Marcus?" The ringleader smirked. "Where there's young, there's parents."

"Leave her alone!" Yahiko got between them and the girls, not yet drawing his bokken. Kaoru had told him not to get into a fight, not unless he was about to get killed - and none of these guys were going to be that stupid. Right? "She's just a kid!"

A smelly hand grabbed his ear and twisted. "Watch your mouth, brat!"

"Who's the brat?" Yahiko fired back, squirming loose. "Did your parents teach you to eat with your hands, or did they dump you with the monkeys on Takeo-yama?"

 _And this_ , Yahiko realized minutes later, tied up and swatted by the blue-clad idiot's swarm of friends, _is exactly why Kaoru hits you with a bokken..._

"You've heard the stories; you know what they've done to our people, even to the Heralds!" Jiki was goading his crew and crowd. "You know what they are..."

 _"Monsters!"_

Which didn't make _sense_ , Yahiko thought dizzily, he'd lived in Haven for _two years_ and never seen these people so unreasoningly angry, so willing to throw away reason and spill blood because of one man's words-

 _It's him!_ Yahiko realized. _The anger. The hate. It's coming from him!_

Jiki smirked as if he could read the thought, swept the crowd with another hungry look. "And we know just what to do with monsters, don't we?"

"You'll untie them now," a calm, quiet voice cut through before the crowd could answer, "and wait for the Guard to be summoned, that you will."

Yahiko drew a breath of pure relief. "Kenshin!"

Bystanders melted back as the small rurouni walked toward them, violet eyes level, gait unhurried as the river. "For that is Haven's law," Kenshin said evenly, "The law all of us live under, who dwell in Valdemar."

"Big words, for such a gentle-looking man." Jiki's hand moved-

 _He's fast!_ Yahiko swallowed dryly.

Steel hovered within a thumb-length of Kenshin's nose.

"Draw your sword, gentle man." Jiki's lip curled. "I'd like to see what makes a little one like you confident enough to carry a sword in defense of mage-made monsters."

"This one does not carry a sword," Kenshin said quietly, fringe of bangs nearly hiding his eyes, "merely to flaunt it as a symbol of undeserved power." He lifted his gaze, violet cool and foreboding. "Whatever wrong you believe has been done, these are _children_. We will wait for the Guard, and the Heralds."

"Children? _Change_ children! And he wants us to wait?" Jiki glanced over the crowd, glaring bystanders' momentary indecision back into mob hate. "Wait, for the people who brought in more mages to study the storms _they_ caused, while these twisted creatures were killing our herds and our children? I say we execute them now-"

 _Shring._

 _No fear_ , Yahiko thought numbly, sweat trembling down his hairline. _A samurai shows no fear._ But he couldn't help it, the noble's foreign sword was trembling inches from his throat where it'd just _stopped_ -

Jiki's nostrils flared as he braced both hands on his sword-hilt, trying to push it forward, then trying to tug it loose. Steel came free like a wheel from thick mud, sending the man staggering back from his prey.

"You will not touch these children with an inch of your tainted blade." Red bangs blew back from Kenshin's face, as if the wind itself split around his drawn sakabatou. "This one is your opponent." Violet shifted, glinting steel-blue. "If you wish to taste death, come forward."

"Perfect." Jiki's lip curled as air released his sword. "Follow the law, do you? Well. A Gifted foreigner, who's used that Gift on a noble of the realm. Whatever we do now... is clearly self-defense."

* * *

"So basically," Herald Kamiya's irritated voice was clear all the way out into the hall outside the Guard's interview room, "You have a woman dead by strangulation. A woman Himura barely saw, and never even spoke to before he left the village prior to sunset. A woman who had an ex-lover half the village admitted was jealous of her leaving, and who's since been in at least one near-fatal brawl since."

"Yes." The word sounded stiff.

 _Ah._ Yamagata Aritomo bowed slightly to the Guard standing at attention outside the room, motioning the rest of his party to relax. He reached out with his ki sense enough to feel the playful tickle of a _vrondi_ , and nodded. _Truth Spell._ "We're here to see Chief Tostig," he said quietly. "We'll wait."

Inside, the questions continued. "Have you ever _seen_ the suspect, Geoffres?"

"No, but-"

"Let me enlighten you," Kamiya Kaoru said wryly. "He's _this_ tall."

"But-" Now the word sounded not so much stiff, as lost.

"If she'd been killed with a sword, that'd be reasonable. If she'd been killed with the claws your witnesses reported, that also might be reasonable. But do you honestly believe a man _half her size_ could have strangled Mistress Ysabelle? Without leaving any trace of himself behind?"

"He could have used magic!"

"Chief Tostig, I can affirm and will attest under Truth Spell, with confirmation from the Mage's Collegium by way of testimony of Instructor Sejanes, that the man in question has no Mage-Gift," Herald Kamiya said formally.

"Noted," Chief Tostig stated.

"But he's a _Changechild!_ It had to be him! Limir swore to it!"

"Limir being Mistress Ysabelle's ex-lover," Chief Tostig said dryly.

"Yes..."

"I believe I've heard enough. Herald, you may dismiss the spell." A pause. "Let the record note that Geoffres of Rethwellan's testimony is found to be true. Let the record further note I find no grounds to prefer charges for Mistress Ysabelle of Rethwellan's wrongful death. Although I advise the use of Truth Spell on another occasion with the accused, to elicit his version of the events surrounding that day. This interview is ended."

Taking that as his cue, the Guard knocked. "Sir! Lord Yamagata to see you."

 _Lord Yamagata_ , the Choshu leader thought wryly, as the Guard station exploded into the controlled bustle that was Valdemarans' rough version of proper courtesy. _I liked General better. At least when the Shinsengumi were coming for your head, you knew who the enemy was._

"Sir." Tostig managed a creditable bow, as his men escorted the fuming Geoffres out and Herald Kamiya almost snuck out the door. "This is an honor."

"This is a necessity," Yamagata corrected, motioning them both toward the chief's office. "For you as well, Herald Kamiya. I understand your family's sword school has been slandered by the vilest of rumors. I assure you, and I will assure my people, there is no truth to them."

"Rumors?" Tostig asked guardedly, as the Herald hid a grimace and followed, closing the office door behind the three of them.

"I was delayed by matters in Maboroshi, or I would have come sooner." Oh, how he longed for the civility of a properly prepared cup of tea, the graceful words that told everything and admitted nothing.

But no, this was Valdemar now. Best to be blunt, and clear. "It is true that one of my people once killed many, earning the name 'Hitokiri Battousai'," Yamagata said levelly. "But never once did he wield his sword in self-interest, or for the joy of slaughter. All he did, he did for the emperor and the new era. He saved the lives of many of our warriors. Without him, the Revolution would not have succeeded, and all those who sought escape from the Choshu domain would have perished." He met blue eyes squarely. "Whoever committed the murders cast against your name, he was _not_ Hitokiri Battousai."

"I know," Kaoru said softly.

 _Do you? I would dearly love to know what you are thinking right now, young woman._ But no matter how fine Yamagata spread his Mindspeech, Kamiya's mind remained shielded and silent.

Not that he'd expected any different. These Heralds might train only those Gifted who joined their white-wearing numbers, but that training was complete.

Tostig cleared his throat. "As it happens, we've already disproved that. From the horse's mouth, as we say here." He grinned. "Herald Kamiya delivered the culprits to me early one morning, and you can imagine what a bunch of back-alley ruffians thought about being beaten by a girl. All they'd say is-"

Kamiya paled. Yamagata felt her Gift reach out, meaning to BeSpeak the chief.

 _Ah, no, you don't._ Yamagata raised his ki, interposing it between her touch and the Guard's mind, like a gust of wind puffing dandelion seeds away.

"-'The _real_ one got us.'"

For a moment, Yamagata couldn't believe his ears. He'd heard the rumors. He'd hoped. And yet - could it be? "What?"

The door slammed open. "Chief! There's an incident!"

"Calon? Meeting? Knock?" Tostig said pointedly.

"Yes sir, but..." The younger Guard swallowed dryly. "It's Lord Jiki's men."

"Here? Now?"

"Lord Jiki?" Kamiya asked, frowning.

"Jiki Plesuron. His family holds land east of Westmark, near the Iftel border," Tostig filled in. "He used to be the third son of the family, but some kind of Change-Beast showed up about two years ago and ate half his family before he killed it. They say Jiki wasn't exactly the kindest young man to start with and that didn't help any. About a month ago his father sent him to Haven to present their arguments against magic, the Mages' Collegium, and foreigners in Valdemar in general."

"But the mages stopped the storms!" Kamiya protested.

Tostig cleared his throat. "Herald, far be it from me to tell your Circle how to work, but I can tell you many of our citizens don't really care how the mage-storms stopped. Valdemar got along for centuries without mages, or Karsite priests, or strangers like the Yamato - no offense, Lord - and now that the storms _are_ over, why should we keep them? I don't buy it for a minute, we in the Guard _know_ the Eastern Empire's still out there, but that's Plesuron's point of view. And it appeals to a lot of people." He turned to Calon. "So what did he do this time?"

"Well, um..." The younger Guard sweated. "They're getting beaten. By just one swordsman."

"What? That's impossible!" Tostig shot out of his chair. "I know that crew he's rallied around him, they're some of the finest swordsmen in the Blues!"

"But it's true!"

"Unbelievable," Tostig growled. "Who is-" He stopped. "Oh no. Don't tell me..."

"Um - well - no one reported a name." Calon swallowed. "He's short, skinny, young-looking... but his sword moves faster than the eye can see..."

Yamagata held his breath, aware of Kaoru's stifled groan.

"...And he has a scar like a cross on his cheek."

Dignity cast aside, Yamagata bolted for his carriage.

* * *

 _Evil_ , Yamagata realized, pushing through the angry, increasingly confused crowd minutes later, letting the white bulk of Kamiya's Companion break a path for them both. _There is evil at work here. A taint I've not felt since..._ "Himura!"

Small. Red gi and off-white hakama patched and worn, humble as the low, flame-scarlet ponytail of a wandering swordsman. Only one sheath by his side; no trace of the honor blade his heroism had won.

Yet that one blade _flickered_ , fast as the wind, felling three swordsmen in one swing.

Himura's sandals touched the ground. He stood among twenty-odd fallen bodies, cool gaze turning toward the source of the crowd's fury. "One left."

Lip curling back from his teeth, Jiki growled.

Kamiya nudged her Companion forward; Yamagata caught her knee. "No. Wait."

Two pairs of blue eyes glared at him. "If you think-"

"Call a miko, Herald. Or some priest you trust. _Now._ There's more peril here than you know." Sensing Tostig and his men arriving in their wake, Yamagata yet kept his gaze fixed on the ringleader, ki sense recoiling from the darkness of that tainted blade. "Himura can't let him draw blood." _Not if we want to stop this mob without killing every last one of them._

Left-handed, Himura rested the hilt-guard of his sword against the crook of his elbow, ignoring the muttering crowd to watch his foe. "Swear that you will set that blade aside, and see a priest for cleansing of your soul. Then we can end this. And this one will submit to the Guard, for drawing a blade on the streets."

"Silence!" Sweat dripped down Jiki's face, sparking in ki sense with inhuman hate. "I cannot bow to _you!_ "

Gripping his sword, he charged.

"That stance - what's _wrong_ with him?" Kamiya exclaimed. "If he connects like that-!"

 _He'll break his own arm_ , Yamagata finished, seeing it as clearly. _As if the creature that holds him even cares_.

"Lord Jiki, stop!" Tostig yelled. "You're-"

"A dead fool," Yamagata observed numbly. "Your Valdemaran styles lack grace, but they have power. Except..."

Jiki slashed down.

Into empty air.

Even knowing what to expect, Yamagata barely caught the blur of red twenty feet up, the swift curve of hair and body and blade stooping like a steel-eyed falcon.

"...In the face of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu."

Steel smashed into Jiki's back. The noble crashed earthward from the blow, blade skittering away across the street bricks.

And suddenly as that, the mob was shattered back into confused, frightened individuals. "What happened?" Kamiya demanded.

" _This_ happened." Yamagata stood near, but not touching, the tainted blade. "Is a priest coming? One who knows how to deal with demons?"

She nodded, hurrying over to untie the children lying in the street on the edge of the swath of unconscious bodies. "I called Karal, he still needs a minute to get out of a meeting-"

"Chief Tostig," Yamagata cut across her words. "This Change-Beast, that attacked the Plesurons two years ago, that he slew with this sword. Do you know what it looked like?"

"Ah..."

"Much like a human, did it not?" Yamagata kept an eye on the blade, holding out a warding hand when curious onlookers stepped too close. "Only its skin was a glossy red, or perhaps black. Its eyes were wide and white and staring, glowing red when it was enraged. Its brows bore horns, long and black-tipped and curving back into a matted, iron-gray mane. It had fangs, and claws, and perhaps a necklace of skulls, and it cursed its killers when it died."

"It was a _Yamato_ Change-Beast?" Tostig gasped.

"It was not a Change-Beast at all." Silent as shadow, Himura stepped through the crowd to guard the blade from the other side. "It was a demon we know as _oni_ , that hungers for the flesh of men. It hates humans, all humans, but most of all the young and the innocent. And that hate gives it power even in death. Especially over steel unblessed by the smith before it is first blooded, as so much of your Valdemar steel is."

"You were used, good people." Yamagata swept the crowd with a cool glare, relaxing minutely as Kamiya herded the boy and young girls back into the safety of Tostig's men. Ki sense felt the faintest brush of untrained youki from the older girl; he knew what had set this riot off. "One of yours who knew no better carried a demon's rage among you, and it meant for you to give it what it craved; the flesh and blood of an innocent child." _Knew no better. Hmph. If he's carried that blade two years... they'd better check their records for unsolved deaths, and folk gone missing._

Perhaps it would be wise to hint to Selenay this man should not survive. None of Yamato would ever trust him at their back. With good reason. One who had fallen to corruption once might well seek it out again.

 _I suppose Himura couldn't just kill him in the street. Pity._

A worn blonde matron swallowed, babe clutched to her breast. "But she's a _Changechild_..."

"That little girl," Yamagata said clearly, pitching his voice to carry to every corner of the street, "Is a hanyou. It is a _Gift_ among my people. It is a sign she will have great power, as your Heralds and Healers do, to help and protect us all."

Reaching out with his Mindspeech, he sensed the crowd's anger, confusion, bewilderment. _Damn; they're not of my people. I don't know how to reach them. What can I say? What can I do?_

A tremor of ki, and the young Karsite envoy of Solaris was there, with an older man Yamagata recognized as fairly important in the Valdemaran religious scheme of things, and a catlike form of white and red-pointed fur-

 _A guardian spirit!_

: _Demon-taint,_ : it hissed, ears laid back as it sniffed at the blade. Blue cat-eyes fixed on Himura. : _And would you speak for it, rurouni?_ :

"On the contrary, _Hineko-sama._ " Himura bowed low. "Sessha would be most grateful if you would destroy it. Utterly."

 _It knows_ , Yamagata thought, chilled.

: _Yes, I do know._ : The Firecat's smirk was clear, in words Yamagata knew were meant for him alone. : _I know what you are. As does Karal. As does Solaris herself._ :

Worse and worse. Selenay _respected_ Solaris, and if she'd learned the truth of samurai from people who had once commanded demons-

: _Selenay knows only that hanyou are Gifted, and you have hidden them._ : Red-marked whiskers twitched. : _Vkandis is stern, but not without compassion. This test is yours to face, and hers._ We _will not interfere._ :

Yamagata made his own bow then, startling his men into following. "Father. Karal-san. Lord Firecat. That sword carries great evil; a taint which has corrupted its bearer in ways he may not even realize. Destroying it would be wise." He glanced at the still out-cold Jiki. "And _he_ had better go straight into your custody." _Before one of my men does the smart thing, and cuts his throat... no, Selenay would never forgive that._

"We will care for him," the older priest nodded. "But young man - are you all right?"

"Sessha was trained to face demons," Himura said easily. "Such light contact cannot corrupt this one; that it cannot."

Yamagata bit back a snort of laughter. An oni, corrupt a hanyou? Even if one _wanted_ to be corrupted, oni didn't have nearly the power to taint youki born of youkai blood!

 _After all, that's how our folk beat them the first time..._

"Step back, please, everyone," Karal called out.

Fire burst from steel, and the crowd gasped as one.

The taint vanished in the flames, and Yamagata sighed with relief. "I think you can handle matters from here, Chief." He turned away, bracing himself to face a demon's eyes...

Only they weren't. All hint of amber was gone; only human violet faced him.

 _Strange. But... this is Valdemar. It makes sense he'd conceal what he truly is._ "Himura. At last I've found you. For ten years I've sought you... for two of those, I had no hope you had survived."

The hitokiri smiled quietly. "You've grown a mustache, Yamagata-san."

For a moment, the very tiniest shred of a moment, Yamagata felt tempted to look behind him for a knife.

 _No. Himura wouldn't do that. Cut a man down in broad daylight, yes; but never set him up for someone else's assassination._

But he was smiling. And the hitokiri who had been in Katsura's service had _never_ smiled.

 _Just as I never wore a mustache; as I do here, to smooth the worries of Valdemarans who look at samurai and only see alien faces. The world has changed._ We _have changed._ "Now that we're beginning to unsheathe our nails... I must speak with Queen Selenay." Yamagata held out a gloved hand. "I have a carriage waiting."

Himura ignored the hand, head slightly bowed. "My apologies, but... we will walk."

Yamagata frowned. "Don't be a fool, Himura! Think of the child."

"I do think of Ayame-chan, that I do," Himura said evenly. "And Suzume-chan. And all those who may yet be born, or marry, or simply wish to travel among the folk of this land without fear." He glanced over the crowd. "And I think of these people, who should watch, and see, and not fear they have harbored something so horrible we scurry to conceal it from them." Violet was guileless, but unyielding. "We will walk."

 _You- you-_ Fury blinded Yamagata. How dare this man, this _hero_ , lower himself to care what outlanders thought? How dare he imply that they needed these townsmen's good will, needed anything beyond land to make their own and good swords in their hands against all who'd take it from them? How dare he even _hint_ that those of the noblest blood ever to grace this earth might deign to unite their families with such- such- kami, who did he think he _was?_

 _Hitokiri Battousai_ , the last bit of his reason supplied.

Fury froze. "Send the carriage off," Yamagata gritted out.

"Sir?" His aide's voice held concealed horror. A lord had status. A lord had face. A lord did not walk to a greater lord like a supplicant, but rode in full, glorious pride.

 _A lord,_ Yamagata thought coldly, _must remember that legends have power beyond even steel._

It was why he and others had sought Himura all these years, after all. Katsura's blade. Katsura's dragon. The hitokiri whom songs called the _greatest_ of revolutionaries.

 _The Demon of Kyoto, who left his bloodstained blade standing in the sunset of Toba Fushimi. And vanished, as youkai do, never to be seen again by mortal men._

Gods, the man couldn't have woven a stronger legend if he'd tried!

And it would not take his men long to realize that legend stood among them. That the legend - the _hero_ \- would walk to a gaijin queen, and honor her beyond measure, all for the sake of one hanyou child...

 _Damn you, Himura!_

Cold anger running in his veins, Yamagata made an abrupt motion of his hand. _Form up._

If they were to walk, they'd do it _properly_ , damn it. With pride. And honor. And their strongest sword in the midst of them, guarding the young girls in case one of these gaijin had more hate than goodwill.

 _Damn, and damn, and damn..._

The walk to the palace seemed an eternity. Yamagata glanced at Kamiya where she walked afoot, her Companion giving the little girls a welcome rest from trying to keep up with adult men. Let his gaze slip aside to the mussed-haired young samurai striding beside Himura, alternately proud and worried as any youngster before his first battle. Raised a brow as an elderly Yamato in Healer Green worked his way into their midst when Himura beckoned; the girls' grandfather, if those tearful squeals were any indication. Kept a fierce glare off his face as more and more white riders joined their procession. Damn Selenay; this was hard enough as it was.

 _She probably thinks she's honoring us. Gods._

Calm. Control. His people were counting on him.

Yamagata nodded and spoke to the Palace Guard as necessary, letting the bulk of his warriors be peeled off by all-too-friendly smiles and "Of course, you understand, customs."

 _Of course I understand. Idiots. You'd think they'd just discovered leaders can be assassinated._

Then again, if what they'd learned of Valdemar's history was true, that wasn't far off.

The core of his party remained intact as they entered the Grand Council's chamber, and that was all that mattered. Himself. His aide, Funaka. The small party of Kamiya, her Companion, and the Gensais. And - quite likely - the most deadly weapon ever to enter these walls.

A small, deadly grin tugged at Yamagata's mouth. Part of him noted the nearest Council members shrink back from that grin, and chortled in ruthless satisfaction. The rest of him, reluctantly, assumed the proper calm and decorum for approaching a higher lord, and bowed before Himura could. "Your Majesty."

"Lord Yamagata." And someone must have been schooling the queen, for her bow was perfect to the hair; just a fraction shallower than his, as appropriate to her higher rank as the sternness of her face. Yet even so, blue eyes glimmered with humor as she reclaimed her chair. "I hear you've brought us a... small problem."

From that slight, choked sound a seat away, Prince Daren was stifling a snicker.

 _Kami, where to start._ "Your Majesty, gentle persons-" one of the safest terms he'd run across to speak to a Council that sometimes included gryphons, _kyree_ , and _dyheli_ , "-I would introduce Gensai Ayame, who has manifested the Gift we of Yamato call _hanyou_."

"It's all right, Ayame-chan," her grandfather said soothingly, coaxing the wide-eyed girl into her own quick bow. "No one here's going to hurt you."

"My Heralds have brought some reports of this Gift," Selenay said smoothly, before the council members could more than start whispering.

 _Kamiya, no doubt. Well, now I'm certain where her loyalty lies..._

"Apparently it's not uncommon among your people, even if we of Haven have never seen it."

"Gods above, I should hope we've never seen it!" the lord from Evendim blustered. "To think that we might have had something as dangerous as _Changechildren_ running about Haven-"

"I believe I am well able to say precisely how dangerous this little one is-" Himura's knuckles cracked, lamplight gleaming off claws no longer hidden, "-and is not."

Pandemonium. Yamagata closed out the shouts, the screams, the sudden, wild accusations. All that mattered was holding his place beside Himura and Funaka in the center of this U of tables, ready to strike if the gaijin lost their minds completely.

 _"Enough."_

Selenay was on her feet, Queen's Own Talia backing her. Her gaze touched each council member in term, sternly commanding reason, sanity, silence. "I take it this," she said into the reluctant quiet, "is why you made this Gift... less than obvious."

"It is, your Majesty," Yamagata said clearly. "Some of your folk encountered ours the first day we Jumped here. The panic that ensued nearly killed several people on both sides." _Though rather more on yours. It's a damn fool of a man who comes after even an usagi-hanyou with a pitchfork. Especially a ronin like Miyamoto. A 'cute bunny' he is_ not. "For all our safety, I ordered the hanyou to conceal themselves."

"And they did?" the Seneschal asked in disbelief. "Just like that?"

"Lord Palinor, I _was_ the leader of the Revolutionary Army, and this was a situation of military nature," Yamagata said pointedly. "Yes. They did." He let his face soften into a weary smile, looking over at Ayame. "But one cannot expect a child to control her Gift, at first. Especially given the circumstances."

"Circumstances?" resounded incredulously across the tables.

"Sun-Priest Karal and Father Nathan concur that Lord Jiki _was_ possessed," Talia stated. "They intend to report to Father Ricard and this Council in full once they know the true extent of his state."

"Possessed-"

"Demons-?"

"Call the Herald-Mages!"

"How could _demons_ be in Valdemar-?"

Selenay let them gabble a minute, then stilled them with another look. "Himura Kenshin, called _rurouni_ ," she said formally. "As you seem to have first-hand knowledge of the subject, perhaps you can inform us all what the hanyou Gift truly is."

"And just how you managed to hide those claws in a sparring match," Captain Kerowyn groused, stepping out of the shadows behind Selenay's chair.

Yamagata hid a start. _Kami, she's good._ Ordinarily he'd have felt the ex-mercenary's ki the moment he entered the chamber. But with all this confusion, he'd missed her.

From Himura's stillness, _he_ hadn't.

"People see what they expect to see, Herald-Captain," the hitokiri answered simply. "Especially if one has the skill to blur one's ki. As I do."

"In the middle of a fight?" Kerowyn gave him a skeptical glance.

"Of _course_ in the middle of a fight!" the young samurai by Himura burst out, glaring right back. " _Che'!_ What good's a Gift if you have to stop fighting to use it?"

"Yahiko-kun," Himura murmured.

"Oh, come _on!_ " Yahiko exclaimed in their own tongue. "Why do you let her talk to you that way? She's-"

"An honorable warrior, in service to the ruler of this land, where the emperor rules not," Kenshin answered in the same manner. "It is not important."

"Not _important?!_ Maybe if you were just some rurouni, it wouldn't be important. But you're-" Yahiko reddened.

Himura stilled. "Were you... surprised?"

"Kinda." Mussed hair ducked. "But I guess... it makes more sense now why you're as good as you are." Brown eyes stared up, full of pain. "You can't do this, Kenshin! Not to _them!_ You just can't!"

"What on _earth_ is the boy saying?" Lady Donrevy's elderly grumble rang across the Council tables.

"It would appear to be a matter of honor, my lady," Talia noted. "Patience."

 _Genteel of her_ , Yamagata thought darkly. He wasn't sure where she'd learned it - likely that Imperial mage with his language-spells - but he knew Talia and Selenay both had a fair understanding of their native tongue.

"When his people's lives are in peril, even a prince's honor must kneel." Himura smiled at the boy, eyes distant with sorrow. "How much more mine, the poor, tattered honor of a masterless sword?"

"But you're not-!"

"Yahiko." Red hair shook slightly. "Go to your sensei."

With a strangled sob, the boy flung himself at Kamiya.

Yamagata blessed his foresight in putting on gloves. They kept his nails from drawing blood as his fists clenched.

Talia blinked, hiding a wince. Her ki rippled with pain.

 _And I hope you choke on it_ , Yamagata thought grimly, careful to keep the thought behind his shields. _Feel our pain, Empath. Feel the shame you force us to. The dishonor. To speak of that which we do_ not _speak of, save among kin and tested battle-allies. To force a_ samurai _to explain himself to merchants and artisans-!_

Himura stood alone now, drawing all the dishonor on himself. "In a fight, yes, Herald-Captain," he said politely in Valdemaran. "That is the Gift hanyou carry. While our other Gifts vary as your Heralds and Healers do, our use of them differs. The paths of energy through us are deeper set, more in tune with reflex. With instinct. We can blur minds in the heat of a battle. Or Fetch. Or Fire-Start - though that Gift is as rare among us as it is among you."

"Sounds damn useful." Kerowyn's eyes narrowed. "What's the catch?"

"Catch?" Kamiya started.

"Magic has a price," the captain said levelly. "Anything that strong has to have a hell of one."

Yamagata's eyes narrowed slightly at the man. _Don't you dare-!_

Himura's gaze let it slide off, subtle as water. "It does." He glanced at Ayame. "When the little one is the age you call thirteen, or fourteen, she will be given a blade. Perhaps a sword, if those skills are hers; perhaps a knife, or even an iron fan. And she will carry that weapon, or one like it, until the end of her days." Moving without hurry, he drew his saya from his obi, holding the sheathed blade out level, one black bar in front of red silk. "As this blade remains with me, always. Even were I bound and imprisoned, even were I kneeling on the execution grounds, no sane citizen of Yamato would take it from me."

"On the face of it, that would seem not to make sense," Selenay said neutrally. Her gaze flicked to the captain, who suddenly looked as if she'd been hit on the head with an iron club. "I take it there is a reason."

Himura shoved the saya back under his obi. "It is... the closest I can come in your tongue is _sealing weapon_. The smith's craft ties it to the hanyou who carries it, using the soul of steel to steady the Gift if pain or anger should drive one beyond reason." He scanned the room, mild gaze passing over every council member in turn. "For if anger seizes us, if life is threatened, our Gifts respond."

"Huh! So do Heralds!" A grim older lord from near the Holderkin lands scowled at them. "And they don't flaunt swords in the streets!"

 _I've had enough of coddling these fools._ "Lavan Firestorm," Yamagata said bluntly.

Ah, that had even the idiots' attention.

"I could name more names, but your own history is clear," the Choshu lord went on. "There have been and _continue to be_ Heralds whose Gifts can rage beyond their most desperate efforts to control them. Heralds who _must_ have aid; either from the Circle, or from their own Companions." He let out a slow breath. "But our Isles, precious as they are to us, have never had Companions. So we have relied on our what skills are ours; the shaping of steel, such that it may channel away even the blood-rage. And that steel _must_ remain with the hanyou - yet the first thing your Guards do on arresting a man is disarm him." Yamagata eyed the older lord. "Did you think I was only protecting _my_ people?" _Gods, if Valdemar allowed duels I'd have your head!_

Talia's ki shifted with her body; a subtle nudge of her queen's foot, if he was any judge. "You've given us much meat for discussion, Lord Yamagata," Selenay said formally. "Perhaps you and Herald Kamiya could go into more detail with the Heraldic Circle and the Mages' Collegium. It's unfair to force some of your most Gifted people to remain in Maboroshi." She pursed her lips, as if the thought had just occurred to her. "Especially since our agents report that the Eastern Empire may yet rise again from the chaos left by the mage-storms."

Yamagata bowed. "I would be honored." _I would rather walk barefoot over live coals. But as they say, when eating poison, don't forget to lick the plate._

* * *

A/N: Sejanes referring to Kenshin's nickname of "Choshu no kitsune" instead of the correct "kitsune no Choshu" was supposed to be a subtle clue that the guy is not an expert on everything. One of my betas pointed out that may have been too subtle. Sorry!

 _Engawa_ \- roofed porch.

 _Neko_ \- cat.

 _Kitsune_ \- fox.

 _Yama-inu_ \- "Mountain Dog", another name for wolf.

 _Taiyoukai_ \- "great youkai".

 _Inu_ \- dog.

 _Koumori_ \- bat.

 _Usagi_ \- rabbit. (Waves **Usagi Yojimbo** banner. Hail the long-eared ronin!)

 _Jizamurai_ \- "country samurai"; more common in the Warring States era than the Tokugawa, they occupied a shifty middle ground, somewhere between low-rank samurai and farmers well-off enough to get some sword training.

 _Aya_ \- a kind of freshwater trout.

 _'Kaasan_ \- mother.

 _Chiburi_ \- a move to shake the blood from the blade. There are several, but Kenshin usually uses a wrist-flick.

 _Torinawa_ \- arresting ropes.

Takeo-yama - Mt. Takeo, outside Edo, was famous for its colony of macaque monkeys.

 _Che'!_ \- "Darn it! Damn!"

 _Nou aru taka ha tsume wo kakusu_ \- The act of not revealing one's talent. Literally, "Talented hawks hide their nails." Short: _Tsume wo kakusu_.


	6. Chapter 6

_He walked here._ Sejanes paused briefly outside the door of the small study, listening for any sound of the mayhem Yamagata had to be one ragged strip of pride away from committing on any Valdemaran in reach. _Herald-Captain, I hope to all your odd deities you have his warriors under the politest guard you can manage._

: _You're saying this is bad,_ : Kerowyn remarked dryly. Hints of echo came through with her words; whispers from Talia, swift rerouting of various guard schedules, the voice of Prince Daren as he presided over the Grand Council's temper tantrum. : _I should be there._ :

 _Gods, no!_ Sejanes shuddered. _You're the war-leader he first surrendered to, remember? Before even the Lord Marshal._ Don't _come. Not yet._

: _Selenay-_ :

Sejanes listened to a murmur of speech too low to be heard. Caught the quick strides of the queen and her bodyguards coming his way, and carefully straightened his robes. Grimaced at a stray spot of ink on one cuff. _If Himura and I can't keep her safe, no one can._

A blink of surprise. : _You think Kenshin would protect her?_ :

 _He's the one who made Yamagata walk here._

" _Made_ him walk here?" Voice low, Selenay regarded Sejanes with a thoughtful frown. "Bright Lady, are you serious?"

So Kerowyn had been filling her in. Good. "Oh, yes," the ex-Imperial said dryly. "You don't think Yamagata would humble himself before a gaijin Queen of his own will, do you?"

" _Humble_ himself?"

"Even to greet the Emperor, daimyo ride," Sejanes stated. "At least until they enter the outer gates of the palace itself. The way of the samurai is not just the sword and the bow, but the _horse_ and the bow. For one of Yamagata's station to walk is to admit his honor is in peril. That his service to you may have been flawed, and requires your judgment."

Valdemar's Queen stared into him as if she would read his soul. "I should have tracked down Darkwind's _dyheli_ allies and asked them to take the language - and the culture - the moment the Yamato dropped in on us."

"I doubt you would have found a volunteer," Sejanes shrugged. "They're very private people."

"So. Given that you're the next best thing we have to a chatty Yamato, tell me. Why," Selenay asked dangerously, "would Himura _make_ Yamagata walk to me?"

"Because this isn't just a matter of a minor injury, smoothed over by a lord's proper attendance on the ruler of the land. If what Karal told me is true-" _Gods, if it is!_ "This is life or death for all the hanyou in Valdemar. And Himura knows it. He walked here. He's thrown himself on your mercy, for the sake of the child. And because of who he is, Yamagata had to match him. Choshu itself kneels at your feet, waiting for you to choose life or death." Sejanes' smile turned wry. "Mind, if it's death, I suspect Himura will be through the nearest window with every last one of his people he can salvage."

"I don't like it when my people are mysterious, Instructor."

 _Not that I'm exactly yours, but... never mind._ "Yamagata's already smarting. I'm not going to make your job any harder than it is."

"And informing me would make it harder?" Selenay crossed her arms, staring him down.

"He needs to see truth from you," Sejanes said bluntly. "They all do." He frowned, sensing something... well. Far more subtle than he'd expected, even from Yamato. "And part of your answers are happening now."

Walking behind her through the door, Sejanes honed his Mage-Sight to its finest degree, watching the subtle swirl of green-gold, warm flame-reds, and-

 _It's not black. It only looks black._

It was warm, as black was _never_ warm; skin on skin, the heat of an enemy's pulse against his fingers.

And it was focussed around Himura, as he held a gentle hand on top of Ayame's nodding head, Yahiko pressing close with wide eyes.

 _A red beyond red. Blood-magic... and something more._

Power filtered into the drowsing girl, trickling into young channels like raindrops in sand. A gentle, steady flow, that went on... and on...

And stopped.

Ayame yawned, and snuggled deeper into her grandfather's arms. Himura straightened, smiling at Gensai as the Healer held the young hanyou curled against his shoulder. "That should mend it."

"'Jiisan? Is Ayame going to be all right?" Suzume blinked from Kaoru's arms.

"She will, so long as we keep an eye on her. But your sister's going to be sleeping a lot for the next week," Gensai said softly. "Himura, she's three!"

"Magic doesn't flow as thickly here as the Uncleansed Lands," Yamagata said gruffly from the far corner of the study, bending his head in a far less formal nod to Selenay. "She would have needed more time for her youki to grow."

"Even had she been in Yamato, it is not always certain when the claws will arise," Kenshin noted. "But one would advise you plan for her to receive her weapon no later than thirteen. If the claws are late, the fangs may be as well," his face sobered, "and that often means the rage comes early."

"Yoshiko said something like that. I have a fang of hers for each of them; she made certain I'd be prepared, in case-" Gensai looked away.

"'Jiisan's sad about 'Kaasan again?" Suzume whispered.

"Oh, she wouldn't want me to be sad." Ayame tucked in one arm, Gensai hugged her little sister with the other, eyes suspiciously bright. "Not when I have such beautiful granddaughters to look after."

"What happened?" Selenay asked softly.

"Gensai Yoshiko was samurai, and hanyou, and her children were in danger." Kaoru surrendered her chair to the Healer, surreptitiously handing him some of the fluffy paper Yamato used for blowing noses as well. "She picked up a naginata and went to the wall with her husband."

Selenay inclined her head, accepting what wasn't said. "I see." She cleared her throat. "A fang?"

"It is needed to create the sealing weapon," Kenshin stated. "It must be one's own, or blood kin, or adopted kin. None else will work."

"Forgive an outsider for asking stupid questions," Sejanes put in, "But what on earth happens if you have more children than teeth?"

The room froze. Gensai choked on a tearful laugh. Yamagata... looked murderous.

 _Oh, damn. I'd forgotten the Choshu had onmitsu as well. Yamagata was one of their generals; he'd know all the Imperial diplomats. He knows damn well who I am, and who I answer to._ Sejanes weighed his options. _Leaving would damage my face, and Tremane's, and so Selenay's. Better to stick it out, and hope he can see past_ then _to_ now.

"Ah... they grow back, Sejanes-san," Kenshin said warily. "Within a week, at least. Though legend says great hanyou such as Inuyasha regained their fangs within a day."

"Your teeth grow back." Selenay gave Sejanes a measuring glance. "And you're not surprised."

"Considering what I'm looking at - no, not really." Sejanes kept his face expressionless, not looking at Yamagata.

With a slow breath, the Choshu lord mastered himself. Glanced at Selenay's bodyguards. Met the queen's gaze. "You trust their discretion."

"Instructor Sejanes tells me you believe your people are in danger," Selenay said levelly. "If the Circle concurs, then this conversation never happened."

"I am... unsure where to start."

"Perhaps a story." Kenshin slipped Yahiko a wink. "After all, one knows someone is behind on their history lessons."

"Oh, man..." Yahiko glanced around the room for any overlooked way out. "Is this one gonna put me to sleep again?"

"One hopes not." Kenshin's smile smoothed into seriousness. "It is said that long and long ago, centuries before the Eastern Empire ever met Chi'in, something tore magic asunder. Perhaps it was your Cataclysm. Perhaps a mage who dared too far, and risked too much. No one knows for sure. What is known is that the Isles, that had been a place of life so rich and wondrous we knew the gods themselves chose to dwell there, were twisted, and tainted, and laid waste. Summer became winter, innocent beasts warped into killers, humans who wandered lost vanished - or returned, to slay and feast on kin as even mad dogs do not. And every night, demons walked the land, sometimes taking human form to enter fortresses by guile, sometimes merely stooping on those unfortunate enough to be without walls, killing and feeding as they would.

"For seven years, it is said, our clans endured. But every season the deaths grew more common; every dawn, hope faded more.

"Yet there _was_ hope. Our leaders of war and spirit had found the demons differed. That _they_ were at war; between the _oni_ , who had bound themselves in flesh and could remain in this world in day or night, and the _akuma_ , the evils that rode the wind, who must hide from Amaterasu's mirror and only took shape in darkness. More, they had found there was a source to both these demons; a hole between this world and the Abyss that might yet be sealed. If there was strength enough. If.

"But alone, we did not have that strength."

Selenay's chin lifted. "So you called on your gods."

"We were not dead yet, Selenay-dono," Kenshin said dryly. "Though as my shishou told the tale, we _did_ ask for advice."

"Advice?" Kaoru said, stunned. "What kind of advice could-" She waved speechless hands.

"The kind that seemed most mad." Kenshin turned to her, violet hidden behind red bangs. "But one miko, Hoshiko-hime, listened. And wept when she heard; for she had been lonely once, and worn from her efforts against demons, and turned too eagerly to the ronin Sashikizu when he shared her watch against the dark. Who held her, and comforted her, and walked beside her every night for months... only to slaughter her clan the one night she let him pass the ward. For he, too, was an _akuma_.

"But she heard, and dried her tears, and walked into a starless night to make the offer..."

* * *

 _ **Offer?**_ The whirlwind laughed cruelly, a mass of voices threatening blood and pain and death...

Turned curious, when she did not flee. _**What do you offer?**_

"Life," Hoshiko-hime said firmly.

 _ **Life?**_

 _ **We take life!**_

 _ **Where we will!**_

 _ **When we will!**_

 _ **Life runs through our claws like rain-**_

"And flees your grip, like water into black sand!" the miko shouted into the maelstrom of demons. She would not flee, she would not... it was too late to run. "What if you could have more?"

 _ **More...?**_

 _ **Lasting life?**_

 _ **The taste of blood... the sweet reek of fear...**_

"We can give you that," Hoshiko said fiercely. "We can give you what you want. Life. Victory over your enemies. Ties to this world _nothing_ can break!"

 _ **...Why?**_

"Sashikizu!" the miko shouted. "Sashikizu, I know you're in there!"

 _ **A human name.**_

 _ **Used by one of us, to snare a human fool.**_

 _ **It matters not-**_

"Doesn't it?" She sucked in a breath, tears streaming down her cheeks. "You said you loved me, and I know that was a lie... you said you meant no harm, and _gods_ , I know that was a lie..."

 _Always a lie._ One quieter howl in the winds. _Always..._

"...But I saw your face, the first time you saw moonlight on water."

One clawed wind pulled free from the tornado of demons, swirling around her like a whistling sword.

Hoshiko felt cuts open on her face, stinging with her own tears. "I know where you came from," she ground out. "Dark and cold and hate. That's all you knew when you came here. That's all you were!

"And when the gate closes - and it _will_ close, even if every last human on these Isles _dies_ to seal it - that's where you'll go! Back to _nothing!_ Eternity, with no life. No hope. No light..."

Dimly, she realized the wind had slowed. Claws left her flesh, pricking at clothes and bow and quiver as if the demon had to touch to know she was real. _We... cannot change what we_ are...

"Yes you can." She spread her hands to the starless night, calling on all the powers that had ever looked on her people with favor. All the _kami_ , all the _mononoke_ \- any spirit that might hear, and heed. "I'll help you."

 _Come,_ she wished. _Come if you will. Come, if you have mercy in your hearts._

 _Help me bring these lost ones home._

The power washed through her, pouring in from all her fellow spirit-workers who'd staked their lives on this one wild gamble. Power soft and warm and dangerous as the spirits each called on. Bat, dog, tiger, fox; wind and thunder, fire and rivers. So many she could not name them all...

And last, before the darkness sucked her dry, the shadowy, grinning spirit of a black wolf.

"Hoshiko."

Cold. Empty. Like a rind scooped out, and left to rot in the ice.

"Hoshiko, no. You can't - leave."

Warmth settled on her skin; a wolf-fur cloak? Who gave cloaks to the dead?

"Hoshiko, you have to stay!" A samurai's command in a young man's voice, as he wrapped furry warmth around her, nestling his nose against her neck to sniff at her throat. "I know you're alive. You have to stay alive. You have to look at me!" Panic, now, breaking through a warrior's control. "You're so still, so still - and it hurts, Hoshiko! Why does it hurt?"

"Sashikizu?" the woman who had been a miko croaked. _Nothing left. No power. No magic._

 _But I'm alive. I shouldn't be alive..._

A wolfish whine, and he licked at her jaw, stroking clawed fingers through her hair. "I felt you going, and I couldn't - I couldn't-" He clutched her, inhumanly strong. "Open your eyes!" A breath. "...Please?"

Hoshiko blinked, trying to focus on the host of wild creatures that had suddenly appeared around her. Some were animals, save for two tails; others, almost human save for hair and eyes and pointed ears, garbed in rich silks and swords and odd, bony armor. A few that seemed to flicker and shift; one patch of red was a fox and a woman and fire itself burning free.

And a creature that had once more taken the shape of a samurai held her close, dark ronin's topknot spilling over her shoulders, wolf-gold eyes wide and wondering and afraid. "Hoshiko, what did you do?"

"Who cares? Kill the ningen!" A lion-like one stalked forward, eyes glowing red. "Drink her blood!"

"No!" Sashikizu stared him down, lips lifting off fangs. "She's _mine_."

 _I'm not dead. I'm not dead - and damned if I'm going to be prey!_ Hoshiko stiffened. "Now, just wait-"

"Mine," the wolf-demon murmured, nuzzling her throat. Rumbling at her, soft happy noises she'd heard watching over wolf dens.

 _Not_ feeding noises. Not at all.

 _I- he wants to-_

Wind whistled, and she felt a shock of _elsewhere_. Then there was a scent of hemlock, and warm fur under her.

And very busy hands, fumbling at her clothing ties. "Sashikizu!"

Claws stopped. "I - want you," he said hesitantly. "Not like before. I want - staying.  
Touching. Your den. You smell like you wanted me..."

As the thin light of dawn filtered through the sheltering branches, Hoshiko laid a hand against his cheek, looking over a face familiar and different. Still beautiful, but not that unearthly beauty that had snared her before. This was grace like boulders leaning together, like snow dusting shorn fields.

 _It's what we thought_ , she realized. _What we hoped for. We tied them to the tribes of nature. To the powers of rock and stone and fire. He's still dark, but he's not a demon anymore._

 _He's a wolf who wants his mate._

"Come here," she whispered. "Let me show you what it is not to lie."

Fingers and lips met, melting into hungry kisses.

* * *

 _Well, I don't think I've ever seen Selenay turn quite that shade of scarlet_ , Sejanes thought, hiding a wry grin behind his hand. He was old; he wasn't _dead_.

"Hoshiko's children were the first wolf-hanyou," Kenshin concluded. "Brave samurai who helped their kin on both sides turn the oni back. With the help of miko and houshi, they reclaimed tainted lands for youkai and ningen alike. It took many centuries, and evil oni still exist to this day, but our Isles no longer warp innocents into evil forms simply because they have wandered where mortals seldom go."

Kaoru's jaw worked, but no sound came out.

Selenay blinked. Swallowed dryly. "Youkai... were demons."

" _Hai_ , Selenay-dono."

"Hanyou... are half-demons."

Kenshin inclined his head. "Half-youkai, _hai_. By birth, as this one is, or by blood resurfacing from sleep, as Ayame-chan's father most likely held it. For after so many centuries, there are hanyou in the ancestry of most Yamato..." his gaze found Kaoru's, "...and _all_ samurai."

The Herald turned white.

"You know I would not lie, Kaoru-dono," Kenshin said softly. "Not to you. Never to you."

Kaoru shook her head, lips bloodless. "I'm a _Herald._ My mother was from _Valdemar_."

"You have ki sense," the hitokiri stated. "It is how the akuma first sensed our world. How youkai... and hanyou, and all those with their blood... still sense it." He stepped toward her. "Kaoru-dono-"

 _"Get away from me!"_

She bolted, avoiding his shocked hands, dodging startled guards - who were there to protect Selenay, Sejanes recalled, not chase panicked Heralds down. Though from their glance at Selenay, they were a heartbeat from doing just that.

"Let her go!" Yamagata ordered. Sighed, shoulders slumping. "Let her go. She needs to run."

"So," Sejanes ventured into the stunned silence, "even if you're not hanyou, there are effects."

The Choshu lord shrugged, spread one gloved hand. "Why do you think our people spend such efforts on courtesy, Instructor? We may not suffer the blood-rage, but we still have tempers."

"Demon tempers," Selenay said numbly.

" _Youkai_ tempers," Yamagata stressed. "They can be cruel, and sometimes evil, but they're not demons anymore." He let tense hands rest by his side, regarding her leader to leader. "Yet even if hanyou were demons, which they are _not_ , they have followed the laws of your land, as ningen do; and when they have broken them they have been punished, as ningen are. And you have said the great law of Valdemar is _there is no one, true way._ "

Selenay's lips tightened.

Yamagata followed her gaze. "I can personally vouch for Himura."

"No." The hitokiri's voice was chill. Matter-of-fact. "You cannot."

 _Captain, I hope you're listening_ , Sejanes thought, throat gone dry. _This conversation just turned very ugly._

: _You think Himura might go after Yamagata?_ :

 _Gods, I hope not._

If he sensed Kerowyn's forces outside their door, Kenshin did not so much as twitch to mark it. "This one is but a rurouni, imposing on Kamiya Kasshin Ryu. Choshu's honor, and Satsuma's, is untouched. And will remain so."

"You can't be serious!" Yamagata's face reddened; he advanced on the small redhead. "Stay, in that shell of a dojo? We've spent _ten years_ looking for you. Your comrades await your return! The rank you have earned-"

"It was to create a world of peace, not to win rank or glory, that we raised our swords and killed," Kenshin said gently. "If we forget that, then we are no revolutionaries after all. And the Shogunate truly has won."

Yamagata glared. "So you'd rob us of your skills. Your power."

"Yamagata-san. This is a land of law, whose rulers are guided away from tyranny by the Companions and their own strength of will. Where justice _is_ of the heavens, by the hands of Heralds who strive their best to protect all those in their charge." Violet was fathomless. "This one has _nothing_ that you need."

: _What on earth is he getting at, Sejanes?_ :

Sejanes hid a wince. _Nothing to worry about, Captain-_

: _Heaven's justice... wait, Eldan said something about that, stories about people who supported the Shogunate being left dead on the street with-_ : A blaze of rage. : _By the rock of Gabora and the nine rings of Teylar! You didn't tell me he was a gods-damned_ assassin!:

 _Kerowyn, don't!_

: _Oh, I'm not coming in there._ : Calculation chilled her thoughts. : _Not unless I have a_ very good _excuse..._ :

"What do you possibly think you can do, as one sword alone?" Yamagata demanded.

"With one sword, the people within my sight," Himura reached out, laying a hand on a very wide-eyed young Yahiko, "can be protected."

 _Innocent and threatening at once_ , Sejanes noted, feeling that calm gaze touch him as well as Yamagata. _How does he do that?_

"This one is no different than before," Kenshin went on softly. "Where this one's skills are needed, I will be. And they are needed here. In a fledgling dojo, whose assistant master tries to bridge the gap between our peoples," he ruffled dark hair, "and whose student has _uncanny_ skill in ferreting out those of Yamato gone astray from the law."

"Aw, man..." Yahiko reddened.

"In case you hadn't noticed, Himura," Yamagata's smile was cold, disapproval shoving aside any hint of fear, "the assistant master you say needs your services more than Choshu has left your protection."

"She did not leave, Yamagata-san. She _ran._ " Slowly, clawed fists clenched. "She ran from me."

Sejanes took a careful step back. Something was stirring around the hitokiri, like a whisper of steel unsheathed. "Himura-san, right now I'd think she'd run from _any_ samurai."

"Hai," Kenshin growled.

"Oh, for the Storm Lord's sake!" Yamagata burst out. "Why should you care if she runs? She may be ignorant as a damned fool, but she's a Herald; that guardian spirit of hers will trample any samurai who takes up the chase." He gestured at the scarred cheek. "And I know you haven't forgotten what happened the last time you took in a lost cat-"

"You will not speak of Tomoe so."

Chill. Even. Expressionless.

 _Back up_ , Sejanes mouthed at Selenay, preparing a purely defensive shield. _Back up,_ now.

"Kaoru-dono is not a lost cat." The gaze that lifted was amber, and deadly as flame. "She is a sensei. An honorable warrior of this land. Brave, and honest, and strong enough in spirit to shatter the Shin no Ippou itself." Claws clenched. Released. Clenched again. "She _must not_ run."

Yamagata's eyes narrowed. "Kamiya is not your concern."

The red head tilted, a fox weighing which way the mouse might jump. "Have you become a houshi, then, Yamagata-san, to bind one of youkai blood from his own free will? I sense no powers of the kami about you."

Sweat damped Yamagata's mustache. "You swore an oath!"

"To Katsura. Who released me. Who is dead and gone beyond any oaths we might think to hold. Who asked of me but one thing before his death: to watch over his people." The very slightest hint of a shrug. "I think he would count her among his people. _Aa_ , I think that he would."

"You will _stay!_ "

"No."

Between one blink and the next, Kenshin was gone.

"He Jumped!" Yahiko grinned. "I didn't know he could do that!"

As every last drop of color drained from Yamagata's face, Sejanes whistled. "And neither did you."

* * *

 _It can't be true._ Kaoru curled on herself in one of the small trysting nooks in Companion's Field, lost in misery. Here she could cry, and curse fate, and bite her own sleeves as she sobbed, and no one would try to talk her out of it. People came here to be alone, or almost alone; no one would enter while Megumi stood guard outside. _It can't be._

: _It... would explain many things._ :

: _Megumi, no-_ :

: _Why there's always a pressure on our bond,_ : Megumi went on inexorably. : _It's never much. It's never interfered. But there are times I have to consciously reach out to touch you._ : The Companion's mind brushed hers, prickling at her ki sense. : _Damn. No wonder we thought it was Empathy._ :

Kaoru blinked, tears blurring her vision. : _What?_ :

: _It "feels" like_ us, _Kaoru. Like the energy-sense of any creature of spirit bound to flesh. But we knew you were human. So - we thought you must be reflecting what you felt from us-_ : Her attention jerked away. : _You! Haven't you hurt her enough?_ :

Silence.

: _Oh gods, don't do that._ : Megumi's anger was turning to mortification, and shame. : _Not to me, damn it! Never to me!_ :

"But you too are a warrior against the dark, Megumi-dono. Should one not honor a fellow warrior?"

Curiosity trickled through the gray haze of shock. Kaoru pushed herself to her feet, wobbling out to the entrance.

Kenshin was on one knee before Megumi; the formal bow of a soldier to a greater lord. Quiet. Composed.

And from that slight upward curve of a smile, quite willing to hold that pose until one particular Companion died of embarrassment.

 _"Cut that out!"_

"As you wish, Kaoru-don- _urk!_ "

Ah. Bokken. Swirly-eyed rurouni on the ground.

She felt _much_ better.

"Oro..."

One hand on ponytail, the other on red gi. Drag. "I can't believe you!" Avoid the rocks - the bigger ones, anyway. "Keeping that from Selenay! From all the Heralds! From me!" She let him drop by the nook bench, sitting to glare down at him. "How could you keep that from me..."

Sitting up, Kenshin rubbed his head. "Kaoru-dono?"

Kaoru gulped. Bit her lip. Tried not to burst into tears all over again. "How could he keep that from me?"

A soft sigh. "Kamiya Koshijirou came here in service to Satsuma," Kenshin said quietly. "He would have sensed the Companions' nature, as this one did. He knew thousands of lives might ride on his blade." A whisper of silk. "And it is customary among us not to entrust our young ones with secrets that could cost their lives. By the time he would have told you - you had already been Chosen."

"It's not fair," she whispered. "He was my father. He was a good man. It's not _fair_ that he-"

"Held Hoshiko-hime's mercy in his veins?" Kenshin said softly. "Aa, one might say that is not fair. For how can one ever repay the gods for such a precious gift?"

Kaoru stared, blue eyes round and wild. "Gift?" _Demon - my father was part_ demon _and you call it a gift-_

"One the best of my father's people treasure above even the finest sword." Kneeling across from her, Kenshin made no move to draw closer. "That gift which was the miko's alone, and no power of gods or demons. The gift of _choice_."

 _Choice_ , Kaoru thought numbly. _Demons are evil. They can't_ be _anything else. The akuma knew that. No matter what they wanted, they couldn't change..._

"For many centuries, the youkai did not realize it was a gift," Kenshin went on. "They lived, as we lived, and many of them enjoyed human lovers. But outside of Sashikizu's own pack, few of them ever claimed us as kin. Even females might cast their half-breed pups away, to live, or not, as human mercy willed. For hanyou are weaker than youkai, and among youkai as samurai, strength can be everything." He smiled slightly. "But then the Inu-Taisho, the great youkai Lord of the West, took a human _hime_ to wife. And his last act on this earth was to name Izayoi's child... Inuyasha."

 _He named him? But that would mean-_ Kaoru leaned forward, intent on the story. "The Inu-Taisho claimed him? As a youkai?"

"History recounts it was not well accepted," Kenshin said wryly. "But he was strong, and brave, and eventually lucky. And his human nature gave him a strength even youkai power could not match; the will to take both humans and youkai into his pack, and with their combined powers destroy an evil neither kind could face alone. So now our peoples acknowledge each other _as_ people." The swordsman looked up. "And just as samurai are willing to acknowledge the hanyou in their heritage, there are youkai, now, who know they have ningen blood. And they are _grateful_ , Kaoru-dono."

 _Grateful, he says. Like they're just people. Powerful - cruel - magical people._ Kaoru shook her head slowly. _I- this just-_ She drew a deep breath. _I can't deal with this. Not now._ "Nice story. Great distraction." She glared at him. "It's _not_ going to work."

"Oro?"

"Don't 'oro' me! You left Selenay with Yamagata!"

"Er..."

"And you left the Gensais. And Yahiko!"

"Sessha suspects they can take care of themselves for a few hours, that they can," Kenshin muttered. "Sejanes-san was there, Kaoru-dono. As was the Herald-Captain. One doubts any blood will be shed with such formidable wills at work, that I do. And sessha had something important to look after."

"More important than talking to the Queen? I _know_ the Circle - they should be questioning you into next week!" Kaoru tapped her bokken against her hand, considering another swing. "How did you get out here, anyway?"

A red shrug. "Sessha Jumped."

"You said you couldn't do that!"

"One said it was unwise for a warrior in battle. One did not say it was not possible." Violet regarded her soberly. "Especially when one sessha cares about has put herself in danger."

"Danger?" Kaoru almost laughed. This was _Companion's Field_. Anything that wanted to attack her would have to get past the Palace Guard, and the other Companions, and Megumi-

 _Like Kenshin just did._

She gulped. "What danger?"

"Not - immediate. More one of habit." He clenched his hands on his hakama, as if will alone kept him from coming closer. "Kaoru-dono. What did your father teach you of... courting? Not only of Yamato, but of samurai?"

"...Eep?" Kaoru managed. It wasn't as if she were ignorant; she was a _Herald_. No matter how well they were trained, all too many of her peers would die very young. Any time they weren't risking life, limb, and sanity for Queen and Valdemar... well, once she'd come of age at sixteen and gone through the full instruction on self-care, it was understood her life was hers to do with as she pleased.

 _But I never found anyone who really seemed right..._

"If a samurai woman is not interested in a suitor, she snubs him," Kenshin said carefully. "She lets his poems languish without reply, or answers them with ones clearly meant to show her lack of concern for him. She lets his skill, his manners, pass her by as a leaf in the stream. She ignores him. She walks away. Into the rain, often, to show everyone she does not care to have even his scent upon her clothing. If he is... unmannerly, then she might injure him, or even kill him, if there is need." Knuckles whitened. "But she does not run."

Her throat was paper-dry. "Why?"

"Because there is that within us which is of the youkai, Kaoru-dono. Not of the dark, not of the demon," Kenshin added swiftly, as she stiffened, "but of the mononoke Hoshiko called to aid."

"The animal spirits?" Kaoru shook her head. "I don't understand."

Kenshin let out a quiet sigh. "The first hanyou, the first children born of an akuma who chose life as a youkai, were of wolf blood. And since they _were_ first, blessed by the gods and Hoshiko's allies, that pattern has been set within all of us, no matter the kind of youkai we carry. _Neko, usagi, kitsune_ \- it matters not. The wolf spirit is a ghost over us all, and it influences our magic to bind us to others. And to bind others to us. We form _packs_ , Kaoru-dono. Those of a samurai clan are bound to each other not only by blood and honor, but by the power within us all..."

 _Wolf-packs? What's that got to do with anything?_ She gripped her bokken harder, wanting to deal out another lump-

 _Wait a minute._

This was Kenshin. Who could take down half a dozen yakuza without blinking. Who dodged Kerowyn as if it were child's play.

Who somehow, weirdly, almost never dodged _her_.

 _Which means he..._ lets _me hit him?_

According to the Animal Mindspeakers teaching her survival classes, wolves had rurouni, too. Grown males and females who would strike out from their birth pack, looking for a territory to call their own. Who might join another wanderer to start a new pack, or find a pack that had lost members and offer submission to be accepted...

 _He lets me discipline him. He lives in my "den". He makes sure the oldest member of my "pack", Gensai, remembers to eat when he's busy seeing patients. He - he_ pup-sits! _And he brought me an orphan. Like a rurouni wolf would to the head female-_ Kaoru stiffened. "Are you saying that if I run, I _invite_ you to chase me?"

Violet dropped. "To chase. And catch, if I can. And if I can..." He blushed.

"Oh." And now _she_ was red, she could feel it burning over her cheeks and up her ears. "I - um..."

"But this one knows you are of Valdemar, and not always familiar with our ways," Kenshin said carefully. "So sessha will risk being - rude. And ask, as one knows gaijin sometimes ask each other. Are this one's attentions... unwelcome?"

Kaoru froze. _What do I do? What do I say?_

"Please." Steel-blue met her gaze, shot through with amber. "I know... your scent. Your ki. But I do not know what you _will_."

"I..." Her throat dried. Kaoru swallowed. "I want..."

Wire-taut, he waited.

"I want you to trust me," she whispered. "Let me in your mind."

Kenshin paled. Clenched fingers on fabric. _"Hai."_ Shivered. "It... will not be pleasant..."

"I don't care."

"You will." Eyes closed, he slowed his breathing, dropping into trance.

Kaoru felt his shields go down; a controlled fall, defined as castle defenses, leaving one and only one way in for a friendly touch. Followed their fall in, reaching deeper than she ever had to transfer memory and words. Treading carefully; beneath the control, there were pieces of his mind still raw and bleeding, though an emerald weave that tasted of Gensai now soothed the worst of it...

Felt a familiar echo, and started. : _You're a Mindspeaker!_ :

 _No, Kaoru-dono. One - had some small measure of that Gift, once. But one was wounded deeply, and one is no longer..._

 _I won't be, I can't be,_ she _was and she hid and it hurts so much-_

Kaoru gripped the edge of the bench, hair rising on the back of her neck. That was... just a whisper, under Kenshin's thoughts. But the power in it, the... fury... : _Who are you?_ :

 _Ah,_ koishii, _can't you guess?_ A glint of amber eyes, shining in the moonlight. _You've seen me before._

: _Battousai..._ :

 _That is... not who this one_ is...

 _And yet it is always who I am. I can act the rurouni, be the rurouni-_

 _But Jin-e was right. One's nature... is hitokiri. Always. One didn't want you to know-_

 _-I was afraid. And fear makes the youkai within-_

 _-Dangerous, Kaoru-dono. Even to those one... cares for..._

 _...And you said the past didn't matter, you wanted me to stay... kami, you are so beautiful..._

Hands on her sleeves, stroking in warmth. A soft breath on her neck, tickling her earlobe. Kaoru swallowed. : _Who_ are _you?_ :

 _One is... Himura Kenshin._

 _And Himura Battousai._ A flicker of rage. _Would you do as your fear bids you? Sever that of me which is youkai from that which is ningen? It has been done to hanyou before - I will_ kill _before I allow anyone to do it to me-!_

 _-No. One would flee. One does not wish to kill, ever again._

 _But I_ will. _Believe it, little swordswoman. Your kenjutsu can be practiced by any ningen. The Hiten must have youki to back it. Let your Herald-Mages try to bind it from me, and I will make the rain bleed..._

 _...But one does not_ wish _to harm, Kaoru-dono. This one's heart is truly the sword; yet it does not need to kill._

 _I would rather... touch. And hold. And keep._

 _One can scent that you might wish to be touched... there..._

The pad of one thumb touched the inside of her wrist, drew a tingling line along the side of her own thumb, dipping back down to trace circles in her palm.

 _And there._

The fingers of his other hand traced just behind her ear, smoothing down the curve of her jaw. Teasing at the edge of her lips until her breath hitched.

 _And - perhaps - there..._

Fangs gently, so gently, teasing at the skin of her throat. Barely denting skin, before lips and tongue soothed their touch away.

Lips and fangs that withdrew, breath as ragged as her own. "Do you... wish me to leave? One... still could..."

"Nnrghh..." Blindly, she reached out and grabbed. _Hair. Hair's good._ "Don't you... dare go... _anywhere_..."

: _Aha!_ : A silvery chime of hooves outside. : _There you- oh. Er. Oops..._ :

"Sanosuke..."

Kaoru felt that growl, shivering through her collarbone. Blinked. Drew in a shaky breath. _What- what am I_ doing...

Clawed fingers released her.

"K-Kenshin...?"

"You are not sure." Red bangs shadowed his gaze, hid his face as he turned away. "One would never... force any who were not sure." He held his breath. Let it out slowly, stepping back to catch the breeze from the entrance.

 _So he doesn't catch my scent..._

Sunlight glinted off claws as Kenshin flexed his fingers. Slowly - deliberately - cracked his knuckles. "Sanosuke?"

: _Um-_ : Embarrassment colored the Companion's mind-voice. : _I can see this is a_ really _bad time, and I-_ :

"One would suggest you run."

* * *

"This is... this is just..." Eldan walked back and forth along the torn-up turf of Sanosuke's mad dash, shaking his head as he tried to pick out the faint traces of one particular hitokiri hot on the fleeing Companion's trail. "I think the gardeners are in shock."

: _I think the gardeners aren't the only ones,_ : Sayvel put in privately.

: _Nope,_ : Kerowyn thought wryly. She rose from her haunches, convinced she'd gotten all she was going to out of following this particular trail. "Explains where the Yamato get legends of flying youkai."

"Kero- how can you-" Eldan waved his hands. "He _chased down_ a _Companion!_ "

"I seem to recall you did a lot more than run down and thwack one particular noble over the head when he interrupted some of _our_ time off," Kerowyn chuckled. "Gods, poor Kaoru. Did you see her when we handed Yahiko over? If she were any redder I'd swear she'd been dunked in the Vale's hot spring and left to boil."

" _Nothing_ is as fast as a Companion!"

"You haven't been mixed up with enough Pelagir mage-constructs, partner of mine," Kero said plainly. "Companions aren't the only creatures out there that can feed their speed and endurance with magic."

Eldan gave her a hard look. "Nothing human is that fast."

"Trail says he didn't try matching Sanosuke speed for speed directly. He used the territory, cut corners where something horse-sized had to take a little longer route. Those straight parts where he didn't - Eldan, Himura himself admitted he. _Isn't. Human_." Kerowyn shrugged. "Elspeth says Hawkbrother mages like Firesong use magic to build their strength and stamina from the time they can walk, and we know samurai start sword-training just about that young. Extend that to hitokiri and mix in the youkai heritage - yes, Himura damn well _can_ be that fast." She gave her partner a look askance. "What's really wrong?"

"How did we miss him, Kero?" Eldan's fists clenched. "He's a killer - he's an _assassin_ \- and we let him in the same room with Selenay!"

" _Was_ an assassin," Kerowyn said soberly. "And a damn good one, apparently. Which _is_ how, Eldan. I've dealt with people in that line of work. And I've heard of more. One of whom - and no, I _won't_ tell you who - retired and joined Tale'sedrin when Tarma and Kethry opened it up. The good ones aren't bloodthirsty. They aren't flashy. They're quiet, lethal, _trained_ professionals. Who go out, do their job, come home, take care of their families, and do their best to blend in with everybody else." She grinned wryly. "Only with that giveaway hair, Himura can't exactly blend in. So he does the next best thing and looks like a bumbling idiot you wouldn't trust with a butter knife. Wonder why he doesn't just dye it?"

: _Probably because it won't stay,_ : Sayvel put in. : _If Kenshin uses energy the way we do - and from what Sanosuke told me after his ears stopped ringing, he does - any dye would wear right out._ :

"Hmm. Wonder if Thalkarsh has that problem? Or had," Kero reflected. "We'll have to send word south and find out if she's still alive. And if she ever left that temple."

"Who?" Eldan frowned.

"Demon, according to my grandmothers." Kerowyn grinned wryly. "Got stuck in human form by a _very_ powerful priest-mage, back when they were running around as mercenaries."

She hadn't thought Eldan's eyes could get any wider. "You mean... you _know_ that story of Himura's..."

"Might well be fact? At least as much as the stories you have about Vanyel and Lavan Firestorm?" Kerowyn finished. "Damn straight. _It's been done_."

"Oh... gods." Her partner cradled his head in his hands.

"According to Grandma Kethry, the priest slapped it with a geas to be stuck in their temple until it changed its ways. Something about wards not holding on a creature that wasn't evil," Kerowyn shrugged her shoulders, thinking. "I wonder how that worked out?"

"Oh _gods_."

"Eldan, Love, if you want to be worried, worry less about a maybe-demon kingdoms away and more about the fact that we haven't heard word one from the palace Guards about sighting Kenshin," Kerowyn pointed out. "If we can't keep one of the best from getting out when we _know_ he's leaving, we'd damn well better look at our precautions to keep people from getting _in_."

"Not that any of our precautions were meant to _keep out_ our own Gifted-" Eldan stopped. Tried not to glance away.

But she'd known him too long. "That's it, isn't it?" Kerowyn said softly. "That's why he gets under your skin." She nodded to herself, adding up years of observations, starting with a much younger Eldan who'd been stunned to realize another Mindspeaker was not a fellow Herald, but a mercenary. "If Himura was a Herald, you wouldn't mind. You might have to look at Vanyel Ashkevron and Lavan Firestorm to find Heralds who come close to Battousai in pure numbers, but gods know we've all got blood enough on our hands. Still, it's blood we shed for Selenay, and Valdemar, and that means it doesn't matter."

"Of course it matters!" His knuckles whitened. "We don't go around assassinating people just because we think they're supporting the wrong side!"

"Oh? And just what did we send Elspeth to do?" Kerowyn waved his grimace off. "Still, you're right. The Ishin Shishi may have said they fought to restore the emperor, but everything Yamagata's people have told us says they took the Shogunate out and put their own government in. So unlike Elspeth, Himura wasn't working for his rightful ruler. He wasn't even working as a hired sword, like Jin-e did. Which I suppose is a pity. If he were a mercenary, selling his Gifts like his sword - well, you wouldn't _like_ it, but you'd understand it. White Winds mage, sell-sword, pretty lady for hire for the night; we all have to eat, and if it means selling part of ourselves, that's what we do."

"I never said you were like that," Eldan said quietly.

"You didn't. _I_ did. And I was." Kerowyn smiled darkly. "But Himura was even lower than that, hmm? He didn't kill for royalty, or money. He killed for an _idea_. For the hope that Katsura wasn't lying, and that the revolution would bring a chance for all his people to live in peace." She shrugged. "Sounds like a certain Baron Valdemar I've heard of."

Eldan shook his head. "Valdemar wasn't an assassin."

"Likely not. But someone who worked for him had to be," Kerowyn said coldly. "You've talked with Sejanes. And Tremane. And their men. The Empire hasn't changed much in fourteen centuries. The Emperor would have had agents all through Valdemar's court and lands, just as he does in every Baron's domain. _Someone_ had to track them down. _Someone_ had to eliminate them. And do it fast. And clean. And _quietly_. Or your revered ancestors wouldn't have lived long enough to bolt west." She softened her tone. "Eldan, like it or not, someone had to be loyal enough to Valdemar to kill for him. Loyal as we are, now, to Selenay."

"We're not-"

"We _are._ That's why Himura frightens you." She chafed her arms, looking out over Companion's Field. "It's like looking into a dark mirror. What we might be, if all we had was our Gifts and our loyalties... is what hitokiri are."

"Only he walked away." Eldan looked... lost. "How could he walk away?"

: _Caryo says Selenay's trying to get that out of Yamagata right now,_ : Sayvel passed along. : _Want to help?_ :

* * *

"-It's not _safe_ for him to be outside a clan!"

Selenay squelched the urge to knead away her headache. Gods, if she could only join that small corner of her conference room the Gensai family had taken over, after Karal and Quenten had been quietly let past by the Guards to join Sejanes. She could hear Altra purring all the way over here; the Firecat had given Ayame a careful sniffing, then settled down, perfectly happy to be petted and scratched by two curious little girls while their grandfather discussed hanyou with the two mages, Karal, and Seneschal's Herald Kyril. Oh, how she'd love to be over there with them...

But no, she was the Queen. She had to be responsible. No matter how much she might want to shake one particular samurai until his teeth rattled. "Lord Yamagata, shouting at me is not going to get Himura to change his mind." Selenay kept her expression serious, with just a light touch of concern. She'd already gotten Yamagata to agree to have copies of the Yamato law-books - the _complete_ ones, this time, _with_ all their laws on onmitsu, hitokiri, and hanyou - transported to Haven for Crown review. Now she could tend to the finer details. Such as making sure one particular Herald who'd done her best to defuse this situation didn't wind up with her heart broken by a certain pig-headed Choshu lord. "And not safe for whom? Himura's already been a wanderer ten years-"

"That should never have happened!" Yamagata half-closed his eyes, composing himself. "Your Majesty, forgive a tired soldier. I've been... concerned for him... since he disappeared off the battlefield at Toba Fushimi."

"He seems more than capable of taking care of himself," Selenay observed. Leaving aside the whole matter of wandering being a lingering death for a samurai. Kerowyn said Himura was more than intelligent enough to know what he was doing. Which meant he had to have a very good reason for trying to commit slow suicide. : _Caryo, remind me later to check that the Healer's Collegium got all the details on that out of Gensai. These samurai are our people, now. There's no reason for any more of them to die if we can help it._ :

: _Rolan's on it,_ : Caryo noted. : _But you might want to know - he's releasing Sanosuke from Companion's Field._ :

Which meant Himura had more than likely made it out past all the Guards. Damn. : _Why? We know what Himura is. Thirteen-year-old odd coincidence or not, Sano can't Choose him._ :

Caryo was silent.

Yamagata wasn't. "Which is precisely why he can't be left rurouni!" the Choshu lord declared. "I know the ways of hitokiri aren't popular among your people, but... _satsujin-ken_ is the magic we've always known. The Way that trains young samurai no other sword-masters can handle. That channels Gifts too perilous for even a sealing sword. That can vanquish creatures simple steel can _never_ destroy!"

Creatures like the oni Yamagata claimed had cursed Lord Jiki's sword. She'd already sent word to Heralds in the area to search for any more remnants of the beast. Carefully, on the advice of Sun-Priest Karal and Valdemar's Lord Patriarch, Father Ricard. Father Ricard hadn't so much as waited for the mob to disperse before he'd co-opted her Fetching Heralds to send the searchers his own armaments, including blessed salt and paper talismans made up by Haven's own aghast houshi and miko. More than one of whom had volunteered _on the spot_ to travel to Jiki's domain _immediately_.

Oni, it seemed, were enough reason to ignore any innate dislike of gaijin.

 _And if that doesn't worry me, nothing will_ , Selenay thought wryly.

"I admit... we concealed certain details," Yamagata said stiffly. "But so far as I knew, all the adult hitokiri _were_ dead. There are some children, but none old enough for _genpuku_. Which is likely the only reason they survived; their training wasn't complete enough to try to stabilize the Jump. Our onmitsu have taken them under their wing for now, but - that may not be sufficient for some of the young ones who need the sword. Himura may be the last hitokiri we have. He _is_ the only one who knows that sword-style. The _only_ one. We cannot allow it to die out simply because he's too worried about retaliation to accept a clan's honor!"

"Retaliation?" Selenay said neutrally. "From your own people?" Kerowyn had put together quite a story. _Let's see how much of it he admits to._

Yamagata drew back a step, watching her carefully. "He is... Battousai."

"Katsura's blade," Selenay said levelly. "Katsura's assassin."

If Yamagata winced, she couldn't distinguish it from his glare. "Don't tell me you don't have your own, _your Majesty_."

Now _she_ wanted to wince. _Thank the gods Elspeth did resign as Heir. She understands killing, and being sent to kill, but... I'm not sure she would ever accept being responsible for_ ordering _the kind of the things I've had Alberich and Kerowyn - and even Skif - do._

With luck, Elspeth's younger brother Kris would. He'd have to. "The Heralds protect Valdemar. And I understand from Heralds Kaoru Kamiya and Kerowyn that Himura Kenshin has affirmed he only intends to use his skills to protect your people." Selenay paused. "I'm sure you understand that I hope your people are also _my_ people."

 _Tell me, Yamagata. Do you mean to stay? Is Valdemar a home for you? Or is our refuge just a place to wait and bide your time, before you start another war?_

 _Tell me the truth. Just this once._

Yamagata looked away. "I understand Himura's going to have to give testimony as to his whereabouts at the time of a murder in Rethwellan."

"Yes," Selenay said cautiously; the Guards had given the Heralds the broad details of the case as soon as they realized the man in question was about to come before the Council. "I believe Herald Kamiya will take it tonight." _It's going to be hard enough telling our people about hanyou without starting a panic. The last thing we need is a murder investigation hanging over the main example's head._ If _he's innocent._

"Hmm." Yamagata flicked a glance at her. "It should be interesting to hear what your Prince Consort's people have to say tomorrow."

 _You mean, it will be interesting to see what_ we _say - and do - when the Rethwellans insist Himura's guilty_ , Selenay realized. _Of course._

 _Himura was your best assassin. Your best skirmisher. Your best_ survivor. _You used him then to protect your people; you're using him now. If_ he _thinks it's too dangerous to stay, he'll leave. And from what we know about him, he'll likely leave enough chaos in his wake that you can pull everyone back to Maboroshi and wall us out forever._

 _But if he stays..._

 _I may finally win your people's loyalty._

Not Yamagata's, of course. Even more than Satsuma's Lord Shimazu, the Choshu lord was and ever would be loyal only to Yamato. But his people, the children even now being born and growing up in Valdemar... those she might win. Eventually.

"Yes," Queen Selenay nodded. "It should be... very interesting."

* * *

 _-Hime_ \- "Princess".

 _Sashikizu_ \- Stab (a wound).

 _Mononoke_ \- "fur persons", evil spirits, sometimes animal spirits. Also _mono-no-ke, mono_.

 _Akuma_ \- devil, evil spirit, demon.

 _Aa_ \- informal yes (masculine).

 _Koishii_ \- "beloved".

 _Satsujin-ken_ \- "murderous sword technique".

 _Genpuku_ \- coming of age for samurai, around 14-16.


	7. Chapter 7

"You did it!" Yahiko pounced on the man currently dropping chopped vegetables into the evening's soup, grinning. "I knew you could do it! _Baka_ Guards..."

" _Maa, maa_ , Yahiko-kun." Kenshin surreptitiously latched onto the boy enough to keep them both from pitching off the edge of the engawa into simmering fish stock. "They're not so unskilled as you might think, that they are not. They are swordsmen, they can sense ki as much as any gaijin can, picking out threats from simple folk about their business. They are simply unprepared for one whose ki can appear harmless as anyone... carrying a bundle of laundry." He felt his smile flicker as he looked past Yahiko's teacher to the red-streaked sky. _Soon. Very soon now._ "Kaoru-dono. Megumi-dono. Welcome home."

"We're home," Kaoru replied, a trace of pink in her cheeks before she glanced away. "Selenay says the Council's going to be arguing all night, and she'd better let them, or they'll never figure out hanyou are just as much people as gryphons. So Healer Gensai and the girls are staying at the Palace."

"But someone else is not." Kenshin blinked, sensing another familiar ki at the gate. "Sanosuke?"

: _Yeah, well, hanyou's out of the bag, right? I might as well get back to working with the Guard. Beats hanging out in Companion's Field watching the next coat of whitewash dry on the stables._ : Sano trotted inside, caught the rope tie Kaoru had installed for Megumi, and pulled the gate to. : _Besides, Kaoru's going to need a witness besides Megumi when she takes your testimony under Truth Spell, Chief Tostig's going to be testifying in front of the Council half the night while the lords yell at Yamagata, and I figured you'd rather have somebody you know..._ : White ears came forward. Blue eyes studied the redhead. : _Yeah, you'd better have someone you know. Or am I wrong?_ :

 _So Sano can sense it._ Kenshin wasn't surprised. Some of the stronger youkai could detect the shift before it happened; no doubt the guardian spirits of these lands could as well. "Testimony? Sessha would think the events of this day were well attested, that I would."

 _Oh, please, not back to sessha again_ , his darker self grumbled. _Even Valdemaran "one" is better than that-_

You _be quiet. After what sessha did to Kaoru-dono-_

Almost _did. Almost doesn't count - not when she_ asked _you to stay. Kami, that lovely scent-_

 _Ice water. Snow. Mountain streams in the first melt. No scent but clear, clean snow..._

 _Snow and blood._ Kenshin hid a shudder, turned his thoughts away to the quiet simmer of soup.

"Not today." Kaoru shifted her feet, wary. "Something that happened a while ago. In Rethwellan."

 _Something happened in Rethwellan?_ Kenshin thought, puzzled. "Sessha takes it you mean something beyond being pursued by fearful gaijin."

"Is that why Chief Tostig was ready to tear the dojo apart?" Yahiko jumped in. "Because of something that happened while Kenshin was wandering?"

"Tostig?" Kenshin shot Kaoru a swift look. Agent of law or not, no Guard should trouble a dojo's calm lightly.

"We're pretty sure we've got that straightened out," the Herald said, carefully casual. "I just need to ask you a few questions under Truth Spell. About a village called Pastun, about six months ago."

Almost six months in Valdemar's reckoning, that was. Oh yes, he remembered that village. Though why anyone in Valdemar should be concerned about a place he'd bought supplies... "Truth Spell. That makes use of the vrondi to touch the one enspelled, _ne?_ " He stirred the savory liquid, drawing in its scent. Already he could taste how it would blend with vinegared rice wrapped around fish fresh from the river. "We should eat, and go inside."

Dinner was quick and relatively quiet, Yahiko first cupping his bowl in his hand to slurp soup as fast as possible, then belatedly glancing at his elders and switching to a grip of thumb and fingers curving around the edge.

 _Good. His time with the yakuza didn't wear away all his parents' manners_. Kenshin smiled ruefully, recalling how many months Hiko had spent breaking him of peasant habits. A samurai had to be ready for attack, always. Cup your bowl from below, and any sudden blow to your hand would send hot soup straight into your face. So one trained to the sword from birth _did not_ cup his bowl, any more than he would stick his chopsticks straight into his mouth instead of lifting morsels to the side.

Hiko's lesson on just why not had involved one light arm-strike, one pair of chopsticks embedded inside his pupil's cheek, and a week of eating with a very sore mouth.

 _It did work. I'm... not even certain I_ could _take my meals like a villager, anymore..._

Dishes were rinsed and away, as the last light faded from the sky.

 _Very soon._

"You wish to know of Pastun," Kenshin said, ignoring the slow curses of Battousai in his soul.

"The night you were there," Kaoru nodded soberly, pushing back her sleeves. "Let me-"

"A moment, Kaoru-dono. Please." Kenshin shook his head. "Sessha was not there at night. Sessha arrived, dealt with a few of its dwellers for food that would keep on the road, and left out the far end of the village a few hours before sunset. Sessha did not wish to risk staying the night amongst strangers, that I did not."

"You're sure?" Kaoru frowned. "I mean, if you weren't, we'd understand. This was a while ago."

"Six cycles of the moon," Kenshin stated. "On a night like this one, just after the new moon, when the first thin crescent stands like a drawn blade in the sky." He drew in a breath, feeling youki ebb as that moon climbed the star-struck dark. "On a night... exactly like this one."

* * *

"Kenshin, you're not making sense-" Kaoru stopped, feeling something prickle at her ki sense. _Something's off._

 _Something's_ happening.

Lantern light glowed on fiery hair, glimmered as flaming strands were suddenly streaked a darker red. Auburn that flowed and spread as Kenshin closed his eyes and breathed raggedly.

 _It feels like a storm passing,_ Kaoru thought, stunned. _Like - something's just going_ away-

Another heartbeat, and Kenshin let out a shuddering breath, blinking dazed violet eyes. "Sessha - always forgets how quiet the world really is..."

As if in a trance, Kaoru moved around the lantern. Picked up an unresisting hand.

A callused, clawless, _human_ hand.

"All of the legends are true, Kaoru-dono." Kenshin gave her a shy, fangless smile. "We are born with a youkai's power, but our bodies are mortal as yours. And from time to time they must rest, powerless as any ningen."

Her lips parted, but no sound came out. _He knew- he was-_

"This is your human night?" Yahiko jumped in. "But - you should-" His eyes darted about the house, as if he expected onmitsu to come tumbling out through paper screens.

"Sessha cannot think of a safer place to spend it than under a Herald's watch," Kenshin said firmly. "And now you may cast your spell as you will, Kaoru-dono. Sessha's youki is ebbed until the dawn, and will not harm the little vrondi; that it will not."

Her jaw worked. : _You knew!_ :

: _Sano picked it up first,_ : Megumi admitted from outside. : _Kenshin's energies started fading just before sunset. It's as if the part of him that's demon just went to sleep._ :

: _Which is a good thing, or else somebody could argue that he used that to tamper with the vrondi_.: Sanosuke's hooves thudded on her engawa; the shoji slid aside with a hiss. : _Hang on, let me get in there so we can do this properly-_ :

Kaoru turned to face the startled Companion, as Sanosuke blinked at Kenshin. "What's wrong?"

: _...I_ saw _you..._ :

Kenshin raised auburn brows.

: _Later. I promise. Let's - get this out of the way._ :

Kaoru nodded. "Yahiko, stay over there. And stay quiet." She frowned, concentrating.

 _"Think of a cloud,"_ her instructor had said, years ago. _"A cloud with eyes."_

The familiar blue light gathered over Kenshin's head, glowing bright against the lantern light. "Now," Kaoru said firmly, "tell me about Pastun. What you saw. What you did. Who you talked to. Everything."

Kenshin inclined his head. "One came to the village called Pastun just before noon, while snow still blew in the wind..."

* * *

 _Human_ , Sano thought, stunned, as Kenshin carefully outlined the events of that day and night, the vrondi's light holding steady as he spoke. _He feels... he_ is... _human._

A human brightly Gifted with Fetching to Sanosuke's senses, no matter how Kenshin tried to hide it.

 _That's what I felt. That's what Called me._

 _But how? I felt the Call for days! If he's only a human for one night, and a hanyou the rest of the time..._

A hanyou who'd acted very carefully human every minute he was in Pastun. He'd dealt with a dry-goods store for salt, a greengrocer for a nut spread and some of the tender sprouts wise people grew in glass jars to ward off winter ailments, and a baker for stale loaves. Like most Yamato, he'd found out on his own that bread was easier on the stomach than some other local foodstuffs.

"...And one needed that, Kaoru-dono, for one's temper was - uncertain, that day, and one felt it would be wiser to spend the night away from strangers; that I did. But one stopped by a well to wash before leaving, and... I was tired, and it was cold, and for a moment my ki was less than innocent. And that is when I sensed a shock in a passerby's ki, and knew my claws had been seen." Kenshin shrugged wearily. "One can _distract_. One cannot create illusions, as onmitsu can. Once seen, remains seen. So sessha left. Quickly." A corner of his mouth turned up. "Sessha did not go in a straight line... but it is likely one covered two hours' ride by horseback before sunset. When sessha stopped, and made a hidden camp, and waited for dawn. Then - one napped a little, and set out once more. It took a few days to realize that sighting had drawn any more attention than the others. And then sessha was quite busy, eluding pursuit both by sword and by magic."

"And you never stopped to ask why?" Kaoru gave him a skeptical look.

"They thought sessha a Changechild," Kenshin shrugged. "One was less than interested in risking capture or confrontation to explain otherwise, that I was not. Especially as one's command of Rethwellan was still limited." He hesitated. "And in truth, Kaoru-dono, one was not interested in stopping. Sessha had finally pieced together enough sense of the land and rumors of Haven, and Valdemar, to guess where the clans might have gone. Sessha... I... wanted to go _home_..."

And still the vrondi glowed, steady as the sun. Sano flicked his ears, rolled an eye toward Kaoru. : _Do we need anything more?_ :

"No." She dismissed the little air elemental with a whisper, picking up pen and paper to write her report. "I'll have copies of this made for Chief Tostig and the Circle. But it's pretty clear this is just a case of wrong place, wrong time." Kaoru gave the swordsman a rueful smile. "You have _awful_ luck, you know that?"

"Sessha's been told so before, Kaoru-dono," Kenshin said wryly. "But sessha does not feel unlucky, that I do not. Sessha is here - _itai!_ "

Gripping an obviously human ear, Yahiko growled in pure frustration. "You're human. Why is your hair still red?"

: _Some humans_ do _have red hair, kid,_ : Sano pointed out.

"Not samurai!"

"Not most Yamato," Kenshin stated, detaching Yahiko's fingers. "It is very rare, Sano. _Very_ rare. And... not usually found." He drew in a slow breath. "Save where there are gaijin among one's ancestors. Which, for all the centuries of the Tokugawa Shogunate, has been grounds for exile, or death."

: _So you had a reason to fight them._ :

"Sessha did not fight them for that." Kenshin shrugged slightly. "A small rinse of dark dye, every night, and one can make it look as though one's hair is always this dark. A useful deception during the Bakumatsu; for unlike most hanyou, whose youki fades but two or three times in a year, this one's human nights return every moon. And if the Shinsengumi had learned that-" He shook his head.

"So you are taiyoukai!" Yahiko grinned, punching him in the shoulder. "I knew it!"

: _So that was just dye?_ : Sano tried not to sigh in frustration. : _I suppose it had to be - it was daylight, after all, even if the snow was coming down pretty fast..._ : But damn it, that Call had felt so real! Kenshin _had_ to have been human... but he couldn't have been... but...

"Sano." Kenshin gave him a measuring look. "Sessha has not dyed my hair since Toba Fushimi."

: _Um... I got lost?_ : Sano offered.

"You were in the Isles?" Yahiko gaped at him.

: _Really,_ really _lost._ :

Yahiko snorted. "That's not _lost_ , that's-"

"Yahiko." Wood slapped into Kaoru's palm; she held the bokken with casual ease. "Crazy things can happen around Companions. Especially when they," she hesitated, "leave Haven."

: _And especially when we go out Searching for people who might help Valdemar,_ : Sano said bluntly. : _You should hear what Kantor went through to get Alberich out of Karse._ :

"You must have great skill at concealment," Kenshin observed. "A white horse of your size should have been remarked on in Kyoto."

: _I wasn't in Kyoto._ :

Kenshin stiffened.

: _It was... a forest. High in the mountains; snow was coming down, and I know it wasn't even harvest yet here. And there was something wrong about it. I couldn't sense energy. At all._ :

"No ki?" Yahiko shivered. "Creepy... you ever hear about anything like that, Kenshin?"

"The Forest of Barriers." Violet was haunted. "It is... not far from Otsu. You were there?"

: _Looking for a human to carry off, yeah. But I couldn't sense the one I was Searching for, or_ anybody, _so I just started looking. And then I found a trail._ : Sano fixed the swordsman with a jaundiced eye. : _Guess now I know how a person could lose that much blood and survive._ :

"One... almost did not."

: _But hanyou heal-_ :

"Hanyou, hai," Kenshin said, almost too low to hear. "But the curse had forced this one to human form, that day. That day, and many days beforehand, though it had not bled in weeks... one supposes it had been biding its time, gathering its strength to leave sessha unguarded in the face of the Oniwabanshuu..."

: _So that's why the Call was so intermittent!_ : Whickering with glee, Sano pounced, clamping red hair between his teeth. : _I found you I found you I finally, finally found you-_ :

"Sessha can't be a Herald!"

"Why not?" Kaoru was on her feet, steam all but rising from her head. "It'd solve everything! You'd be one of us - you'd be _safe_ -"

"I would be in service to your Queen, and that I _will not do!_ "

Kaoru froze, eyes wide and wounded.

"Kaoru... dono," Kenshin whispered. "Please. Please understand." He swallowed dryly. "The first principle of Hiten Mitsurugi: the sword swung in my name is wielded to protect the innocents of the world."

 _A killing style... meant to protect?_ If he hadn't been holding red hair, Sano would have shaken his head. _And why are you surprised, Companion-baka? You were Called for this man. You never would have been, if his heart wasn't pure..._

"But Heralds-" Kaoru started.

"Heralds serve the Monarch, and Valdemar. Hiten Mitsurugi must never serve _any_ power." Reaching behind him, Kenshin gingerly pried his hair from white lips. "Never again."

: _I think I understand._ : Sano nudged the swordsman with his head. : _I could still Choose you._ :

"Sano-"

: _I_ could,: Sano went on deliberately. : _But I won't._ : Even if it hurt. Even if it broke his heart. This man deserved to be a Herald, and Companions had gotten around their Chosen's oaths before... : _You're hanyou. I'm - well, you know enough to know our powers come from different ends of the spectrum. If I Chose you, our bond would have to do what Megumi's does to Kaoru; suppress your youki. Forever._

: _Only that's half of what you_ are. _It's your Gift, your magic, and you're never happier than when you're using it to pound some dangerous idiot into the ground. I won't take that from you. Ever._ :

"You are... truly a friend," Kenshin said softly. "Sessha cannot understand... how you could see any of what passed in the Forest of Barriers, and still be a friend."

: _What I saw?_ : Sano snorted. : _I saw a_ fifteen-year-old _\- if you were that old! - fighting for his life against a fighter three times his size, who'd already used underlings and blasting powder to tear the kid apart! I saw you trying to save yourself. I saw you trying to save her! And damn it, if she wanted so badly to live - she was a Mindspeaker, I Heard her! She could have been your eyes..._ :

"You... saw...?"

: _Stuck in a damn_ chuugumo's _web. Yeah._ :

Kenshin was shaking his head. "It was my fault-"

Stupid stubborn baka rurouni- : _Fine. You want to be guilty? Be that way. Forget justifiable - which it was, only a lunatic jumps_ between _two people with blades. Call it accidental death. Hells, call it manslaughter. You've been doing, what, ten years of community service since Toba Fushimi? That's enough in any sane kingdom. Sentence over. Quit it already!_ :

"But-"

 _:You heard me. Hey, Jou-chan! I think I'm sensing a serious guilt overload here. Could cause all kinds of nasty things. Depression. Paranoia. Odd wandering tendencies at inopportune moments. You're the local Herald. When you going to drag this guy to a MindHealer?_ : Privately, he whispered, : _Get ready, Jou-chan, I think we've almost got him._ :

"Sano!" Kenshin's face was almost as pink as his gi. _Sessha doesn't deserve-_

: _Ah HA!_ : Three minds pounced on the errant thought, Megumi backing Kaoru's grab. : _Gotcha!_ :

Kenshin blanched. Raised hands, as if to ward their thoughts away.

Kaoru snatched his hand first. "I know it hurts. I _know_ it hurts. Please, Kenshin, just try. Try letting a little energy through. Just enough for us to hear you. For you to hear us." She chafed his palm between her hands, warming trembling fingers. "Whatever happened in that Forest, it tore up your channels. Some of them you Healed, but you didn't even try to fix your Mindspeaking. I guess I can understand that... but you're safe now." She grabbed the rurouni's gi and shook him. "Kenshin no baka! Let us help you!"

"Oro..."

"Um... whatever you're up to, _busu_ , I think it'd work better if he were conscious?" Yahiko observed.

Kaoru looked at her fist-full of lumpy-headed rurouni, and blushed.

* * *

And this is all I've got complete at the moment. I have some fragments with Saitou, but they'll have to wait until RL and Murphy stop double-teaming me with football bats...

 _Maa, maa_ \- "Now, now"; easy, calm down.

 _Ne?_ \- isn't that right?


End file.
